PELLA, Iowa – In its first games in two-and-a-half weeks, the St. Olaf College softball team dropped both ends of a non-conference doubleheader to No. 24-ranked Central College with 4-1 and 4-3 losses on Wednesday afternoon at Kuyper Athletic Complex.

Central (12-5) got out to an early lead with two first-inning runs and made the lead stand up in the opener before claiming game two in walk-off fashion. After senior Jaelyn Orth tied the game with a pinch-hit home run in the top of the seventh for St. Olaf (5-3), the Dutch scratched across the game-winning run after the first three hitters of the inning reached to run their winning streak to six games.

In addition to being the Oles' first games since March 2, the twin bill marked St. Olaf's first outdoor games of the season and its first games against nationally-ranked opposition this season. St. Olaf will depart for an eight-game trip to Georgia on Saturday morning before opening the trip with a 12 p.m. CDT doubleheader at Agnes Scott College on Sunday, March 24.

No. 24 Central 4, St. Olaf 1 | Box Score

In the opener, St. Olaf outhit Central by a 9-7 margin but left 12 runners on base in a 4-1 defeat. The Dutch capitalized on three errors by the Oles to score a pair of unearned runs in the victory.

Sophomore Roxanne Ring went the distance in the circle for the fourth time in four starts for St. Olaf, limiting Central to two earned runs (four runs) on seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts in her first loss of the season. Ring had allowed just one earned run on the season entering the game and exited the game with an ERA of 0.78 through 27.0 innings of work.

Ring was also one of two Oles to have two hits in the game along with senior Shreya Ashok. Ring was 2-for-4 and drove in St. Olaf's lone run of the game with a fourth-inning single, while Ashok had a pair of hits. Junior Medora Rylee reached base three times with a double and a pair of walks.

St. Olaf left the bases loaded in each of its first two innings at the plate, doing so on either side of a two-run bottom of the first for Central. The Dutch took advantage of two St. Olaf errors to score a pair of runs in the bottom of the first.

After Central added third run in the bottom of the third before the Oles got their lone run of the game in the next half inning when senior Jenna Peschel reached on a one-out bunt single, moved to second on a walk to Rylee, and scored on Ring's two-out single up the middle.

In the next at bat, senior Hannah Peschel flew out to the warning track in left field as the potential go-ahead run on a day with a stiff breeze blowing in from the outfield. St. Olaf left four runners on base in the first four innings and stranded at least one runner in all seven of its innings at the plate.

Central got another unearned run in the bottom of the sixth, but senior Anne Fossum made a diving grab near the third base bag to turn an unassisted double play to end the inning and prevent further damage after the Dutch had runners on second and third with one out.

No. 24 Central 4, St. Olaf 3 | Box Score

In game two, it was St. Olaf's turn to get out to a two-run lead in the first inning before Central rallied to take a 3-2 lead entering the seventh. After Orth tied the game with a one-out solo home run in the top of the seventh, the Dutch benefited from a leadoff walk and an error in the bottom of the inning to pick up the walk-off victory.

Two Central pitchers held St. Olaf to four hits in the game, with Hannah Peschel collecting two of the four hits in the loss. St. Olaf's other two hits were a run-scoring single by first year Eva Hokanson and Orth's homer.

Jenna Peschel worked the first 4.0 innings for St. Olaf, yielding three runs (one earned) on six hits with just one walk before turning the ball over to Orth. Orth worked the final 2.1 innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits with two walks and one strikeout.

The Oles jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. After Rylee drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a bunt, Hannah Peschel singled to center to put runners on the corners with one out. After Peschel stole second, Fossum knocked in the first run with a ground ball and Hokanson followed with a RBI single to center.

Central cut its deficit in half with a run on an infield hit in the second before scoring two unearned runs in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead, getting runs on a throwing error following a leadoff triple and a wild pitch. St. Olaf got out of the inning down just one after Rylee corralled an errant pitch that rebounded off the backstop and tagged a runner out at the plate for the second out of the inning after the Dutch had runners on second and third and one out.

With Central clinging to a one-run lead, Orth blasted a chest-high pitch over the left field fence in left with one out in the top of the seventh to tie the game. The home run was the second of Orth's career in her 29th collegiate at bat and her first since her rookie season in 2021. Two of Orth's seven collegiate hits have been home runs.

In the bottom of the seventh, Central filled the bases with nobody out on a walk, an error, and a fielder's choice that allowed everyone to reach safely. After St. Olaf got a force play at the plate for the first out, the Dutch walked off with the win on an infield single.