NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College split a pair of high-scoring games against crosstown-rival Carleton College in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play on Monday afternoon at Ele Hansen Field.

In the opener, St. Olaf (15-17, 9-5 MIAC) overcame four multi-run deficits to earn a 10-9 victory in a game that featured 28 hits. In the nightcap, Carleton (12-16, 3-9 MIAC) used a seven-run fourth inning to take a 9-4 lead and held off the Oles late to snap St. Olaf's 10-game winning streak in the series with a 9-8 win.

Ten of the last 12 meetings between the Oles and the Knights have been decided by two runs or fewer and 11 of the 12 have had a differential of no more than three runs.

St. Olaf returns home to take on Augsburg University on Thursday, April 27 at 3:30 and 5:30 p.m.

St. Olaf 10, Carleton 9 | Box Score

St. Olaf overcame deficits of 3-0, 4-1, 7-4, and 9-7 in game one and used a three-run top of the sixth to take its first lead of the game. First year Roxanne Ring made the lead stand up by putting up back-to-back zeroes in the sixth and seventh after Carleton had scored in each of the previous four innings.

Both teams recorded 14 hits in the see-saw affair, as five Oles had multiple hits in the game. Junior Anne Fossum was 2-for-4 with a double, a run, and a career-high-tying four RBI, while senior Maya Patty was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI. Sophomore Medora Rylee added three hits and two RBI, while fifth-year senior Tarah DeCroock and junior Hannah Peschel each had two hits and scored twice.

The Knights opened the scoring with three two-out runs in the bottom of the second before the Oles got one of the runs back on a two-out RBI single by Rylee in the next half inning. Carleton answered with a run in the bottom of the third, but St. Olaf threw out the potential second run of the inning at the plate to end the frame.

In the top of the fourth, St. Olaf fought back to even the game at 4-4, scoring twice on a double by Fossum and another on a Carleton throwing error. The Knights plated three more two-out runs in the bottom of the fourth to re-establish a three-run lead at 7-4.

That lead also did not last long, however, as the Oles put together a two-out rally of their own in the top of the fifth by getting four of their five hits in the inning after the second out. Patty knocked in the first run of the inning with a single before Fossum delivered the game-tying, two-run single to make it 7-7.

Carleton again responded quickly in the home half of the inning with a pair of runs to go back in front, but St. Olaf got the final three runs of the game in the top of the sixth. Rylee followed a leadoff triple by DeCroock with a single to cut the Oles' deficit to 9-8 and, later in the inning, Patty provided the eventual game-winning, two-run single to right center to put St. Olaf ahead for the first time.

Ring took care of the rest by retiring the Knights in order in each of the final two innings to earn her sixth victory of the season against just one loss.

Carleton 9, St. Olaf 8 | Box Score

St. Olaf held a 4-2 lead after four and a half innings, but Carleton scored seven runs on just four hits in the bottom of the fourth to open up a 9-4 lead. The Oles battled back with four runs in the sixth, thanks largely to a three-run home run from DeCroock, but could not find a tying run.

Eight of St. Olaf's nine non-pitchers had at least one hit in the game and four posted multi-hit performances, as the Oles outhit the Knights by a 13-7 margin. Junior Jenna Peschel was 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI, Patty was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI, and DeCroock drove in four runs out of the leadoff spot.

St. Olaf started the scoring in the top of the second, getting an RBI single from Jenna Peschel and a sacrifice fly off the bat of DeCroock to take a 2-0 lead. Carleton tied the score at 2-2 with single runs in the second and third before Patty broke the tie with a two-run double in the fifth to give the Oles a 4-2 advantage.

The Knights took advantage of three walks and a St. Olaf error in the bottom of the fifth to plate five runs in what proved to be the decisive inning. The Oles responded in the next half inning, as Jenna Peschel and Landon started the inning with singles before DeCroock hit her third home run of the season to bring St. Olaf within two at 9-7. Later in the inning, Patty made it a one-run game with a sacrifice fly with runners on second and third and one out, but the Oles were unable to get the tying run in from third.

St. Olaf got the tying run on base and got the potential game-winning run to the plate in the top of the seventh after Jenna Peschel singled with one out before Faith Hanshaw got the final out. Peschel threw 1.1 innings of scoreless relief in addition to her three-hit game.