NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team recorded its fifth Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) sweep of the season by defeating Augsburg University by scores of 11-2 in five innings and 4-1 on Thursday afternoon at Mabel Shirley Field.

St. Olaf (17-17, 11-5 MIAC) got strong starts from junior Jenna Peschel and first year Roxanne Ring to hold Augsburg (19-13, 5-9 MIAC) to three runs on 10 hits in the two victories. The Oles scored all 11 of their runs in the third and fourth innings in game one before breaking a 1-1 tie with three sixth-inning runs in game two.

In its final home games of the regular season, St. Olaf hosts St. Catherine University on Senior Day on Saturday, April 29 at 1 and 3 p.m. at Mabel Shirley Field.

St. Olaf 11, Augsburg 2 (5 inn.) | Box Score

After Augsburg scored the first run of the game, St. Olaf tallied five runs in the third inning and six times in the fourth to break open game one. Sophomore Amelia Christenson and junior Anne Fossum homered on consecutive pitches in the fourth to highlight the run-rule victory.

The top-seven hitters in St. Olaf's lineup combined for all 14 of the Oles' hits in the win. Christenson was 3-for-3 with a double, a home run, two runs scored, and a career-high five RBI, while Fossum was 3-for-3 with a double, a home run, and two RBI. Fifth-year senior Tarah DeCroock, senior Andrea Conway, and senior Maya Patty all had two hits and scored twice, with Patty also driving in two runs.

Peschel evened her record at 6-6 this season by limiting the Auggies to two runs on six hits over the first four innings, walking two and striking out three. Senior Kaitlyn Miller threw a scoreless fifth inning in her first appearance of the season to close out the win.

Augsburg broke through with a run in the top of the third, but St. Olaf answered with five runs in the next half inning after six of the first seven batters of the inning reached via a hit. Conway started the scoring with an RBI single, Patty followed with one of her own, Christenson provided a two-run double, and Fossum added a run-scoring double in a string of four-straight run-scoring hits for the Oles.

The Auggies got their final run of the game in the fourth to get within three, but the Oles put up their second-straight crooked number to break the game open. Junior Hannah Peschel and Patty drove in the first two runs of the inning with singles before Christenson and Fossum sent back-to-back pitches over the left-field fence, all before the second out of the inning. Christenson hit her team-leading fourth home run of the season – a three-run shot – on an 0-2 count and Fossum followed with her first homer of the season.



St. Olaf 4, Augsburg 1 | Box Score

St. Olaf plated a run in the first and held onto the lead all the way until Augsburg tied it up in the top of the sixth. After seeing their lead evaporate, the Oles scored three runs on just one hit in the bottom of the sixth to break the tie and went on to secure the sweep.

Ring, who retired the first 14 batters of the game before a fifth-inning error, went the distance in the circle for St. Olaf, giving up just one run on four hits with two walks and a career-high six strikeouts to run her record to 7-1 this season. Ring outdueled Brynn Hostettler, who held the Oles to just two hits but walked 10 batters to go with six strikeouts.

St. Olaf jumped on Hostettler early to take a 1-0 lead just two batters into the bottom of the first. After DeCroock drew a leadoff walk and stole second, sophomore Medora Rylee brought in DeCroock with the first of her two RBI singles in the game.

After that, Hostettler and Ring put up zeroes on the scoreboard until Augsburg got its lone run of the game in the top of the sixth to tie the score at 1-1. The Auggies filled the bases with one out on a pair of singles and a walk before Zoie Johnson hit a line-drive sacrifice fly to left. Ring got a called third strike on a full-count pitch with the bases loaded to end the inning.

St. Olaf broke the tie by scoring three runs on just one hit in the next half inning, capitalizing on four walks, a double steal, and three wild pitchers in the inning. With a runner on first and two outs, Jenna Peschel kept the inning alive by drawing a four-pitch walk before Peschel and pinch-runner Elle Brandt executed a double steal to put two runners in scoring position. Brandt proceeded to score on a wild pitch and, after another walk and a wild pitch, the third wild pitch of the inning allowed Peschel to score. Rylee drove in the final run of the inning with a single through the left side.

Augsburg did not go quietly in the seventh and got the tying run to the plate with two outs thanks to a pair of singles, but Ring got a fly ball to left to finish off the first complete game of her career.