NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The third-seeded St. Olaf College softball team edged sixth-seeded Saint Mary's University (Minn.) by a 3-2 margin to advance to the semifinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs on Thursday at Mabel Shirley Field.

In the first postseason meeting between the two programs, St. Olaf (21-19) held leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but Saint Mary's (21-18) scratched across runs to tie the game at 1-1 and 2-1. With the score locked at 2-2, senior Andrea Conway knocked in the game-winning run with a sixth-inning single to send the Oles to the semifinals.

With the victory, St. Olaf advances to face the second-seeded College of Saint Benedict on Saturday, May 13 at 1:30 p.m. at Bethel University in the second game of the day. Top-seeded Bethel hosts fourth-seeded Gustavus Adolphus College in the first game at 11 a.m. after the Gusties ousted fifth-seeded St. Catherine University by a 4-1 score in Thursday's other quarterfinal. The winners of the two semifinals will play at 4 p.m. for the tournament title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Sophomore Amelia Christenson was 3-for-3 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI to help St. Olaf outhit Saint Mary's by a 9-5 margin. Christenson's leadoff double in the sixth was her 16th of the season, moving her into a tie for fourth in single-season program history, while her third-inning RBI single tied her for fifth on the program's single-season RBI list with 31. Fifth-year senior Tarah DeCroock moved into a tie with Karalee Holen (1995-98) for the all-time program record in games played by playing in the 161st game of her career.

Three St. Olaf pitchers combined to limit the Cardinals to five hits in the game. Junior Jenna Peschel scattered three hits and two walks over the first 3.2 innings before first year Roxanne Ring allowed just an unearned run over her 1.1 innings in the circle. Junior Jaelyn Orth retired all six batters she faced over the final two innings to earn her third victory of the season.

The Oles got on the board first in the bottom of the second, benefitting from two Saint Mary's errors on the same play to push across a run. Christenson led off the inning with a single and was on second with two outs when junior Katie Weisheit reached on a fielding error by the Cardinals. After misplaying the ground ball, the Saint Mary's first baseman made a late errant throw that allowed Christenson to come all the way around to score.

The Cardinals got the run back in the next half inning, getting a run on a wild pitch after starting the inning with a double. Saint Mary's threatened to take the lead with runners on second and third with just one out, but Peschel got a pair of ground balls to keep the game tied.

St. Olaf went back ahead in the bottom of the third on Christenson's two-out RBI single to shallow left. Christenson's single came after sophomore Medora Rylee and senior Maya Patty got on with one-out singles. The Cardinals again scratched across a run in the top of the fifth, scoring on the second of two throwing errors in the inning.

The score remained tied until the bottom of the sixth when the Oles tallied the eventual game-winning run. Christenson started the inning with a double to left before being run for by first year Abby Nevin. Junior Hannah Peschel got Nevin to third with a sacrifice bunt before Conway's hard-hit ground ball off the Saint Mary's second baseman allowed Nevin to score the go-ahead run.

The victory improved St. Olaf's all-time record in the MIAC Playoffs to 8-11, as the Oles have won at least one game in each of their last six appearances in the tournament.