ATLANTA, Ga. – The St. Olaf College softball team dropped both games of its doubleheader at Emory University, falling by scores of 8-7 and 10-1 on Monday afternoon at Cooper Field.

St. Olaf (7-5) used a pair of home runs to build a 6-3 lead in game one before Emory (14-6) rallied over the final two innings to claim an 8-7 walk-off win. The Eagles put together two big innings in a five-inning win in game two to complete the sweep.

The Oles have an off day on Tuesday before visiting Piedmont University for a twin bill on Wednesday, March 27. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. CDT.

Emory 8, St. Olaf 7 | Box Score

In the opener, sophomore Madyn Singleton and junior Amelia Christenson both homered to help St. Olaf to a 6-3 lead in the middle innings, but Emory went on to claim a walk-off win by breaking a 7-7 tie in the home half of the seventh.

Singleton, senior Shreya Ashok, and senior Hannah Peschel had two hits apiece for the Oles, with Singleton and Christenson driving in five of St. Olaf's seven runs with their home runs.

The teams combined to put seven runs on the board in the first inning as Emory answered St. Olaf's four-run top of the first with three in the bottom of the inning. The Oles' first three batters of the inning all reached base before senior Anne Fossum brought in the opening run with a sacrifice fly. Singleton followed with a three-run blast for the first home run of her collegiate career.

After Emory got three of the four runs back in the bottom of the first, the score remained at 4-3 until Christenson drove a two-run home run over the fence in left center to push St. Olaf's lead to 6-3. The home run was Christenson's first of the season and the fifth of her career.

Sophomore Roxanne Ring worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fourth to keep the Oles' three-run lead intact. St. Olaf maintained the 6-3 lead until Elizabeth Zerr sent Ring's first pitch of the at bat over the fence in straight-away center field for a grand slam to give the Eagles their first lead of the afternoon. The grand slam came after three consecutive Emory hitters reached base after the first two batters were retired.

With the Oles needing a run, first year Eva Hokanson led off the top of the seventh with a double and got to third with one out when Ashok reached on an error to put runners on the corners. After Ashok stole second and Peschel walked to fill the bases, Ring drove a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game.

Emory avoided further damage by stranding two runners in scoring position in the top of the seventh before getting the game-winning run in the next half inning. With two outs and a runner on second, Lillian Ware lined a single to right and an error on the play allowed the winning run to touch the plate.

Emory 10, St. Olaf 1 (5 inn.) | Box Score

Two Emory pitchers limited St. Olaf to four hits in game two, as the Eagles completed the sweep with a run-rule victory. Emory did all of its scoring in two innings, scoring four in the first and six in the fourth.

Junior Medora Rylee had two of St. Olaf's three hits and scored a run, while Ashok and Christenson picked up one hit apiece. The first five batters of the game for Emory all reached during its four-run first inning and the first five Eagles to bat got on in the six-run fourth.

St. Olaf got a runner on in all five of its innings at the plate but was held to one run, which came in the top of the fifth. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Rylee and Ashok picked up back-to-back singles before Peschel and Singleton got on via Emory errors, with the second error bringing in Rylee.