NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team tallied 21 runs on 26 hits on its way to sweeping crosstown-rival Carleton College by scores of 11-3 (5 innings) and 10-7 on Tuesday afternoon at Ele Hansen Field.

St. Olaf (20-12, 11-5 MIAC) jumped on Carleton (12-16, 3-11 MIAC) with six runs in the first inning en route to a run-rule victory in game one. The Oles surged out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning of game two but needed to score five runs over the final two innings to complete the sweep after the Knights fought back to tie the game at 5-5. The sweep gave St. Olaf wins in 12 of the last 13 games between the crosstown rivals going back to 2017.

Weather permitting, St. Olaf will host back-to-back Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) doubleheaders this coming weekend, starting with two games against Gustavus Adolphus College on Saturday, April 27 at 1 and 3 p.m. The games will be the Oles' Senior Day, which was moved up a day to the forecast for inclement weather late this week.

St. Olaf 11, Carleton 3 (5 inn.) | Box Score

St. Olaf strung together six consecutive two-out hits in its six-run first inning and rode the big early lead to the run-rule victory in game one. Six Oles had multi-hit performances in the game, as St. Olaf tallied 15 hits in its five innings at the plate.

Senior Anne Fossum was the lone batter with three hits in the game, going 3-for-3 with two doubles, two runs scored, and two RBI. Senior Shreya Ashok, junior Amelia Christenson, first year Eva Hokanson, fifth-year senior Maya Patty, and senior Katie Weisheit all had two hits as well.

Senior Jenna Peschel upped her record to 4-3 this season by holding Carleton to an unearned run on three hits with one walk and three strikeouts. The Knights got two runs off sophomore Roxanne Ring in the seventh before Ring finished off the victory.

After a leadoff walk to junior Medora Rylee, Carleton starter Rachel Block retired the next two batters, but St. Olaf proceeded to record six hits in a row and a walk while batting around in the inning. After a run-scoring single by Christenson opened the scoring, Patty doubled in two more runs before Weisheit and Fossum added RBI singles. Peschel helped her cause with a run-scoring double for the final run of the inning, which saw 11 Oles come to the plate.

St. Olaf added to its lead in the top of the second with two more runs. With runners on the corners and one out, Patty singled through the left side to drive in her third run of the game and, two batters later, Fossum plated another run with a sacrifice fly to make it 8-0 after an inning and a half.

Carleton took advantage of an error to score an unearned run in the second, but St. Olaf got the run right back in the top of the third. A single by Ashok and a double by senior Hannah Peschel put two runners in scoring position for Christenson, who singled to score Ashok. Ashok drove in two runs with a fourth-inning double to bring the Oles' lead to 11-1 before Carleton scored twice in the fifth to close the scoring.

St. Olaf 10, Carleton 7 | Box Score

After St. Olaf scored five times in the second to again get out to a sizable early lead, Carleton tallied four runs in the fourth and another in the fifth to tie the game at 5-5. The Oles responded with three runs in the sixth to go back on top, only for the Knights to score twice in the bottom of the inning to get back within one, but St. Olaf held on to complete the sweep.

Rylee, Ashok, sophomore Madyn Singleton, and senior Jaelyn Orth registered two-hit games for St. Olaf, with Ashok knocking in three runs as well. Jenna Peschel also picked up two RBI while going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and a run scored.

Singleton was left with a no-decision after giving up four runs (two earned) on five hits with one walk and one strikeout over the first 3.1 innings before turning the ball over to Orth. Orth claimed her team-leading seventh win after yielding three runs (two earned) on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts over the final 3.2 frames.

St. Olaf took advantage of three hit batters to score five runs on just two hits in the top of the second. Three hit-by-pitches and a fielder's choice left the bases loaded with one out for Singleton, who singled to left to open the scoring and keep the bases full. Jenna Peschel followed by drawing a bases-loaded walk. After a shallow fly ball for the second out, Ashok cleared the bases with a three-run triple over the left fielder's head to cap the five-run outburst.

Singleton got out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the second to keep the Knights scoreless, but Carleton chased the sophomore during its four-run fourth inning that made it a one-run game. The Knights capitalized on two St. Olaf errors to scratch across an unearned run in the fifth to erase the 5-0 deficit and tie the game at 5-5.

St. Olaf's first five batters all reached in its three-run top of the sixth. A single, another hit batter, and a bunt single filled the bases with nobody out for Jenna Peschel, who knocked in two runs with a single to right. Hannah Peschel added a sacrifice fly later in the inning to give the Oles an 8-5 lead.

After Carleton got two of the runs back in the bottom of the sixth, St. Olaf got them right back in the top of the seventh to give itself a three-run cushion again, as the Oles scored twice after the first two batters of the inning were retired. St. Olaf loaded the bases on two walks and an infield hit before Rylee singled up the middle to score a pair. Orth worked around a leadoff hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the seventh to close out the win.