AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Senior Sam Lavin and first year Kieran Haaland combined for a seven-hit shutout to pitch the St. Olaf College baseball team to an 8-0 win over Union College (N.Y.) on Saturday at Lake Myrtle Sports Park.

Lavin struck out eight batters and allowed just four hits over 6.0 shutout innings before Haaland scattered three hits with four strikeouts over the final 3.0 innings to toss the combined shutout for St. Olaf (7-7). Lavin's eight strikeouts matched his season high – done on two other occasions – while Haaland picked up his second save to hand Union (8-2) just its second loss of the season.

Offensively, all nine starters for St. Olaf - and 10 hitters total - recorded a hit in the victory, with sophomore Mason Buck and junior Matthew Kulesa driving in two runs apiece. First year Cole Pleimann was on base three times, going 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored.

St. Olaf got the only run it would need in the top of the second to get out to an early lead. Senior Joey Glampe led off the inning with a double, moved to third on a single by Pleimann, and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Buck.

Union had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth after getting a leadoff double followed by a sacrifice bunt to put the tying run 90 feet away with one out. Lavin proceeded to strike out the final two batters to keep the St. Olaf lead intact.

Still clinging to a 1-0 lead, the Oles added two runs to their lead in the sixth as four of the first five batters of the inning reach on singles. Glampe knocked in the first run of the inning with a sacrifice fly after Lavin and sophomore Breckin Hadley started the inning with consecutive singles and Buck followde with an RBI single.

St. Olaf took advantage of two hit batters and an error to score an unearned run in the seventh before capitalizing on three Union errors in the ninth to break the game open. With the baes loaded and two outs, Kulesa plated two runs with a single to right. Sophomore Brendan Goldman followed with a run-scoring single, with a second run scoring on the play via an error.

Union's only other scoring threat in the game was in the bottom of the eighth when the Garnet Chargers put two on with one out, but Haaland retired the final two batters of the inning to preserve the shutout.

The Oles continue their trip against Purchase College on Sunday, March 24 at 12:30 p.m. CDT at Lake Myrtle Sports Park.