LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. – The St. Olaf College softball team concluded its eight-game trip to Georgia by sweeping Covenant College by scores of 10-3 and 6-4 on Friday afternoon at Covenant Softball Field.

St. Olaf (9-7) used three big innings to win game one and built a 6-0 lead in game two before holding off Covenant (3-17) late to complete the sweep. The games were the first-ever meetings between the Oles and Scots.

The Oles are scheduled to open Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play at the College of Saint Benedict on Wednesday, April 3. First pitch for game one is set for 3 p.m.

St. Olaf 10, Covenant 3 | Box Score

St. Olaf scored four in the first and three in each of the fifth and seventh innings to register a seven-run win in the opener. Four Oles had multi-hit games in victory, while sophomore Roxanne Ring allowed just one run over 3.2 innings of relief.

Junior Medora Rylee was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored, Hannah Peschel was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored, junior Amelia Christenson went 2-for-3 with two RBI, and senior Jenna Peschel was 2-for-4 with a two-run home run. Ring added a three-run single to her strong outing in relief that saw her surrender four hits with no walks and one strikeout to pick up her fourth win of the season.

The Oles' first three batters reached base in the top of the first to quickly fill the bases, but Covenant got the next two batters without surrendering a run before Ring cleared the bases with a Texas-league single to center. Orth followed with a double to right to bring in Ring, who got to second on the throw home on her single.

After Orth got through the first three innings unscathed, Covenant scored twice in the fourth to cut St. Olaf's lead in half. Ring entered the game with the bases loaded and one out and proceeded to get the Oles out of the jam without further damage.

St. Olaf scored three runs on just one hit in the top of the fifth to stretch its lead to 7-2. Hannah Peschel drove in a run with a double, Christenson added a sacrifice fly, and the final run of the inning scored on a dropped pop up on the infield. Christenson plated another run with an RBI single in the seventh and Jenna Peschel blasted a two-run home run to left center for her first collegiate home run later in the inning.

St. Olaf 6, Covenant 4 | Box Score

St. Olaf opened up a 6-0 lead in the third before Covenant used a pair of home runs to score the next four runs to make it a two-run differential. The Scots got the tying run on base in the sixth and seventh innings, but Jenna Peschel got out of both innings to earn the first save of her collegiate career.

Peschel struck out a season-high five and did not walk a batter over her 2.2 innings in relief of sophomore Madyn Singleton, who picked up the victory after working the first 4.1 frames. Madison Bowden held St. Olaf scoreless over the final 4.1 innings for Covenant.

Senior Shreya Ashok, senior Katie Weisheit, and junior Faith Yi had two hits apiece, with Ashok driving in two runs in the win. First year Eva Hokanson also had two RBI, while Weisheit and Yi both scored a run and drove in another.

Hokanson knocked in the first run of the game with a ground out in the top of the first after coming to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. St. Olaf broke the game open with five runs on five hits in the top of the third, with Hokanson, Weisheit, Yi, and Ashok producing run-scoring hits in the inning.

Covenant got a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the third and a three-run home run with one out in the fifth to cut its deficit to 6-4. The Scots put runners on the corners with two outs in the sixth and got back-to-back one-out singles in the seventh, but Jenna Peschel escaped both situations to seal the win.