NORTHFIELD, Minn. – After being unable to dig out of an early 5-0 deficit in a 7-6 game-one loss, the St. Olaf College softball team claimed a split of its Senior Day doubleheader against Gustavus Adolphus College with a 10-2 run-rule victory in game two on Saturday at Mabel Shirley Field.

Gustavus (19-17, 13-5 MIAC) used a five-run first inning to get out to an early lead in game one and held off St. Olaf (21-13, 12-6) to take the opener. The Oles rebounded by scoring the final seven runs of game two to record the six-inning win and salvage a split to remain one game behind the Gusties in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) standings.

The split left St. Olaf fifth in the conference standings, one game in the loss column behind both Gustavus and Saint Mary's University with four games remaining for the Oles. St. Olaf is two games in the loss column ahead of Macalester College, who the Oles will face next on Tuesday, April 30. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Mabel Shirley Field.

Between the two games on Saturday, St. Olaf honored its six seniors in the Class of 2024: Maya Patty, Annie Landon, Hannah Peschel, Jenna Peschel, Anne Fossum, and Katie Weisheit. Fossum and Weisheit were two of the five Oles to hit home runs in the doubleheader.

Gustavus 7, St. Olaf 6 | Box Score

Gustavus jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first and held on the rest of the way despite St. Olaf hitting three home runs in the opener. All three of the Oles' home runs came with the bases empty.

Junior Amelia Christenson was the lone Ole with multiple hits in the opener, going 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, two runs scored, and three RBI. Junior Medora Rylee got on base three times out of the leadoff spot, drawing two walks while going 1-for-2 with a run scored. Fossum and sophomore Madyn Singleton also homered in the loss.

After entering the game in the third inning, sophomore Roxanne Ring limited Gustavus to one run on six hits and a pair of walks over 4.2 innings of relief for St. Olaf. Jenna Peschel was dealt the loss after yielding six runs (five earned) over the first 2.1 innings.

Madi Mueller led off the game with a solo home run for the Gusties, who sent all nine of their batters to the plate in their five-run first inning. Three of Gustavus' four hits in the inning went for extra bases.

Fossum got St. Olaf on the board with a solo home run – her second of the season – to lead off the bottom of the second, but the Gusties got the run back in the top of the third to go back up by five. The Oles cut into the visitors' lead in the bottom of the third with a three-run frame, getting a two-out, two-run double from Christenson, who later scored on a wild pitch.

Christenson moved into a tie for the team lead with her third home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth by hitting a solo shot to left center to make it a one-run game at 6-5. Gustavus pushed its lead back to two in the next half inning with what proved to the game-winning run. With the Oles down 7-5, Singleton hit a pinch-hit solo home run to center with one out in the bottom of the sixth, but St. Olaf could not find a tying run.

St. Olaf 10, Gustavus 2 (6 inn.) | Box Score

After holding a 3-2 lead through three-and-a-half innings, St. Olaf scored once in the fourth, once in the fifth, and five times in the sixth to grab the split with the eight-run victory in game two. Rylee led the way offensively for the Oles by going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, two runs scored, and four RBI.

Weisheit joined Rylee with a home run in the win, while first year Eva Hokanson was 3-for-3 with a run scored. Fossum was 1-for-2 with two walks and the game-ending two-run double to close out the run-rule victory.

Singleton worked the first 3.1 innings in the circle for St. Olaf, allowing two runs on five hits with two walks and one strikeout before turning the ball over to senior Jaelyn Orth. Orth improved to a team-best 8-2 this season after throwing 2.2 shutout innings while surrendering just three hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

St. Olaf opened the scoring in the bottom of the first when Hannah Peschel drove a two-out single off the glove of a diving Gustie at second base to bring in Christenson. Gustavus responded with a pair of doubles in the top of the second to tie it up at 1-1.

After the first two Oles were retired in the bottom of the second, Hokanson reached on an infield single before Rylee drove the first pitch of her at bat over the fence in right-center field for her first collegiate home run to give St. Olaf a 3-1 lead. The Gusties halved their deficit with a run in the top of the third to close to within 3-2.

Orth got out of a jam in the top of the fourth to keep the Oles on top after Gustavus had runners on second and third with one out. Rylee extended St. Olaf's lead to 4-2 with a one-out RBI single in the bottom of the fourth before Orth escaped a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation in the top of the fifth.

Weisheit tallied her first home run of the season with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the fifth to join Fossum with home runs on their Senior Day. St. Olaf finished off the run-rule win with five runs on six hits in the bottom of the sixth. Rylee capped her four-RBI day with a run-scoring double, senior Shreya Ashok and Christenson followed with RBI hits, and Fossum ended the game with a two-run double to right.