DEMOREST, Ga. – Senior Anne Fossum was 7-for-7 at the plate, but the St. Olaf College softball team dropped both games of its doubleheader to Piedmont University by scores of 7-6 and 9-1 on Wednesday afternoon at Walker Athletic Complex.

Fossum was 4-for-4 for the first four-hit game of her collegiate career in the opener and was 3-for-3 in game two for St. Olaf (7-7), but Piedmont (11-11) used one big inning in each game to come away with the sweep. The Oles hit .386 (22-for-57) as a team on the day in the two defeats.

After an off day on Thursday, St. Olaf closes out its time in Georgia with a doubleheader at Covenant College on Friday, March 29. First pitch for game one is set for 11 a.m. CDT.

Piedmont 7, St. Olaf 6 | Box Score

St. Olaf led 2-0 in game one before Piedmont scored five runs in the fifth to take a three-run lead. The Oles answered with three runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game and went ahead 6-5 in the top of the seventh, but Piedmont scored twice in its final at bat to snatch the walk-off win.

Fossum led St. Olaf's 14-hit attack with three singles and a double, while first year Eva Hokanson was 3-for-4 with a run scored. Senior Shreya Ashok, sophomore Madyn Singleton, and junior Amelia Christenson had two hits apiece, with Christenson adding a walk and an RBI.

Senior Jenna Peschel held Piedmont scoreless for the first four innings and went the distance in the circle for the Oles.

St. Olaf scored the first run of the game by starting the top of the second with consecutive singles from Singleton, Hokanson, and Fossum, with pinch-runner Rylan Nakamura coming in on Fossum's first hit of the game. The Oles added an unearned run in the fourth on a Piedmont error after Hokanson, Fossum, and Christenson reached base to fill the bases.

The Lions scored five runs on five hits in the bottom of the fifth, but the Oles responded in the next half inning by scoring three times with two outs to tie the game at 5-5. With runners on second and third and two outs, junior Medora Rylee drove a two-run double into the gap in right center and Ashok followed with a run-scoring single.

Peschel got her lone strikeout of the game to strand two Lions in scoring position to end the sixth and keep the game tied. In the top of the seventh, St. Olaf started the inning with four consecutive singles to grab a 6-5 lead but was unable to add to the lead with the bases loaded and nobody out. The Oles left 10 runners on base in the game.

Piedmont grabbed a controversial walk-off win in the bottom of the seventh with two runs. With one out and a runner on second, Megan Steinmeyer bounced a single up the middle and the hosts sent the runner around third. Senior Hannah Peschel made a strong throw from center that beat the runner to the plate, but Piedmont was awarded the tying run on an obstruction call. The next two hitters delivered singles to win the game for the Lions.

Piedmont 9, St. Olaf 1 (5 inn.) | Box Score

Piedmont scored all nine of its runs in the third and fourth innings to take game two via the run rule. The Lions took advantage of four errors in the six-run third inning.

Fossum completed her 7-for-7 day by going 3-for-3 with one RBI, while Rylee and Christenson were both 2-for-3 in the loss. The trio accounted for seven of St. Olaf's eight hits in game two. Sophomore Roxanne Ring tossed all 4.0 innings for the Oles.

St. Olaf again got a run on the board in the top of the first by getting three hits in the inning. After Rylee drilled the first pitch to center for a single, a pair of fielder's choices left Hokanson at first with two away. Hannah Peschel kept the inning alive with a single to left before Fossum singled to left to bring in Hokanson.

In Piedmont's big third inning, the Oles were one out away from getting out of the inning with the score tied at 1-1 before six batters in a row reached for the Lions to give the hosts a 6-1 lead. Piedmont got out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the fourth and tacked on three runs in the fourth to go on complete the sweep.