ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team suffered 8-3 and 7-2 losses to the College of Saint Benedict in its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) doubleheader of the season on Wednesday at CSB Softball Complex.

Saint Ben's (5-11, 2-0 MIAC) took a first-inning lead and pulled away late in game one before grabbing the lead late in game two after St. Olaf (9-9, 0-2 MIAC) held a 2-0 lead in the fourth. The Bennies scored 11 of their 15 runs on the day in the fifth and sixth innings.

Over the two games, Saint Ben's hit .418 (23-for-55) as a team and limited St. Olaf to a .216 clip (11-for-51). The Bennies were 15-for-38 (.395) with runners on base, while the Oles were just 3-for-20 (.150).

St. Olaf hosts St. Catherine University in its home opener on Saturday, April 6 in a 1/3 p.m. doubleheader at Mabel Shirley Field.

Saint Ben's 8, St. Olaf 3 | Box Score

Saint Ben's used a three-run first inning – one of its three multi-run innings in the game – to get out to an early lead in the opener. The Bennies outhit the Oles by a 12-4 margin in the game to snap their five-game losing streak.

Senior Hannah Peschel, senior Anne Fossum, first year Eva Hokanson, and senior Jenna Peschel had one hit apiece for St. Olaf. Jenna Peschel drove in two runs with a first-inning double, while twin sister Hannah also drew a walk to reach base twice.

Saint Ben's strung together three consecutive two-out hits in the bottom of the first to put three runs on the board early, with Hannah Peschel picking up an outfield assist at third base for the final out of the inning. St. Olaf got two of the three runs back in the next half inning when Jenna Peschel drove a two-out, two-run double to deep right field to score Hokanson and fifth-year senior Maya Patty.

After giving up the three first-inning runs, Jenna Peschel kept the Bennies from scoring until the bottom of the fifth. In the fifth, Saint Ben's got extra-base hits from three of its first four batters of the inning to extend its lead to 6-2. The Oles answered with a run in the top of the sixth on an RBI ground out off the bat of junior Amelia Christenson after Hannah Peschel and senior Anne Fossum reached base to start the inning.

The Bennies capped the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the sixth and got 5.0 innings of one-run relief from Olivia Wallace and Ellie Peterson to finish off the win. Olivia Tautges was 4-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, and three RBI for the hosts.

Saint Ben's 7, St. Olaf 2 | Box Score

St. Olaf got single runs in the third and fourth to carry a 2-0 lead in the middle innings, but Saint Ben's scored one in the fourth, three in the fifth, and three more in the sixth to record the come-from-behind victory. The Bennies' No. 2-5 hitters combined to go 10-for-15 with three runs scored and six RBI in the nightcap.

Christenson was the lone Ole with multiple hits in game two, going 2-for-3 with a triple. Hannah Peschel and Hokanson each had a hit and drove in a run.

St. Olaf scored the game's first run in the third when Hannah Peschel lined a two-out single into right center to score Jenna Peschel, who reached on an infield hit before junior Medora Rylee drew a walk. The Oles doubled their lead in the fourth when Christenson led off with a triple that the CSB right fielder lost in the sun and scored on Hokanson's ground out to second.

Sophomore Roxanne Ring kept the Bennies scoreless until the hosts started the bottom of the fourth with three consecutive hits to chase Ring after making it a 2-1 game. Sophomore Madyn Singleton came in with runners on second and third and nobody out but got out of the jam thanks, in part, to a line-drive double play to Fossum at third.

Saint Ben's tallied three consecutive two-out hits in the fifth to take a 4-2 lead and added three more runs in the sixth to pull away.