MANKATO, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team improved to 4-0 to start the season for the first time in 40 years with victories over Bethany Lutheran College and the University of Northwestern on Saturday morning at the Minnesota State University Dome.

St. Olaf (4-0) trailed Bethany Lutheran (3-2) by a 2-1 margin before senior Hannah Peschel delivered the go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth in the first game of the morning. In game two, the Oles trailed Northwestern (1-2) by a 3-2 score before exploding for six runs in the sixth inning to claim an 8-3 win.

Peschel drove in three more runs against the Eagles to cap a three-hit, six-RBI day, while junior Medora Rylee was 4-for-6 at the plate with two RBI and three scored over the two games. The 4-0 start to a season was the first for St. Olaf since 1984 and the third in program history (1979, 1984, 2024).

The Oles will face Grinnell College and UW-La Crosse on Saturday, March 2 at the Rochester Regional Dome in their final two dome games of the season.

St. Olaf 4, Bethany Lutheran 2 | Box Score

Peschel's three-run home run was the difference in the opener against the Vikings as twin sister Jenna Peschel logged a complete game in the circle to hold Bethany Lutheran to two runs. Peschel allowed seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts in her first victory of the season.

St. Olaf jumped on top in the bottom of the first on a double steal by Rylee and senior Shreya Ashok that allowed Rylee to score. Rylee started the inning with a single, stole second, and got to third on an error on a ground ball off the bat of Ashok.

The score remained 1-0 until the Vikings got a two-out, two-run double from Bryn Weidner to grab a one-run lead of their own. Bethany Lutheran had four of its seven hits in the game in the inning.

The Oles mounted their first of two sixth-inning rallies when Peschel blasted a three-run home run – her first of the season – to center with one out after Ashok and junior Amelia Christenson drew walks earlier in the frame. The Vikings got the tying run to the plate in the top of the seventh with a one-out single before Jenna Peschel retired the final two batters.

St. Olaf 8, Northwestern 3 | Box Score

Five Oles had two hits apiece in the second game of the day, including sophomore Roxanne Ring, who had a pair of doubles, scored a run, drove in a run, and threw a complete game in the circle. Ring did not allow an earned run while scattering eight hits with no walks and three strikeouts.

Rylee was 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored, and two RBI, Hannah Peschel had a pair of hits and drove in three runs, and fifth-year senior Maya Patty went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.

Northwestern scored single runs in the first, second, and third to build a 3-0 lead before St. Olaf got two runs back in the bottom of the third. After Patty led off with a double, Rylee drove her in with a single up the middle. Later in the inning, Hannah Peschel drove a two-out single up the middle to score Rylee from second and make it a 3-2 game.

The Eagles maintained their one-run lead until the Oles scored six runs on six hits in the decisive bottom of the sixth. Jenna Peschel started the inning with a ground-rule double and scored on a one-out RBI double by Ring. After Patty singled to put runners on the corners, Rylee reached on an infield single to break the 3-3 tie with the go-ahead run. Two batters later, Ashok singled to center with the bases loaded to score another run, and Hannah Peschel followed with a two-run single to make it 7-3. Christenson plated the final run of the game with a sacrifice fly later in the inning.