ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team was unable to solve All-American pitcher Kayla Simacek in 8-0 and 5-0 losses to No. 10-ranked Bethel University on Tuesday afternoon at Ona Orth Athletic Complex.
Simacek pitched Bethel (17-3, 6-0 MIAC) to the sweep of St. Olaf (11-11, 2-4 MIAC) by limiting the Oles to five hits with no walks and 11 strikeouts over 11 innings of work in the two games. The Royals scored in four of their five innings at the plate on their way to the run-rule victory in game one before registering two multi-run frames in game two.
St. Olaf looks to bounce back with a home doubleheader against the College of St. Scholastica on Saturday, April 13 at Mabel Shirley Field. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.
No. 10 Bethel 8, St. Olaf 0 (5 inn.) | Box Score
Simacek – a two-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) First Team All-American – threw a one-hit shutout in game one, needing just 50 pitches to get through the complete-game win while striking out four with no walks. Eight of the nine Bethel starting position players picked up at least one hit in the game.
The Royals wasted little time in staking Simacek to an early lead, as the first five Bethel batters reached to start the bottom of the first. The hosts drew three walks and had a pair of singles in the inning before sophomore
Roxanne Ring got a pair of infield flies and a ground out to limit the damage to two runs.
Senior
Anne Fossum's one-out single in the top of the second was the lone hit of the game for St. Olaf. Bethel added a run on a two-out single in the bottom of the second before tacking on three runs in the fourth and two in the fifth to end the game early.
No. 10 Bethel 5, St. Olaf 0 | Box Score
Simacek improved to 14-1 on the season by holding St. Olaf to four hits with no walks and seven strikeouts over the first 6.0 innings for Bethel. The Royals scored twice in the second and three times in the fifth to record the 5-0 win despite holding just a 6-4 edge in hits.
Fossum, junior
Medora Rylee, fifth-year senior
Maya Patty, and junior
Amelia Christenson had one hit apiece for the Oles. Senior
Jenna Peschel threw a scoreless sixth inning with one strikeout in relief of sophomore
Madyn Singleton, who worked the first 5.0 innings for St. Olaf.
Bethel filled the bases with one out in the bottom of the second before a pair of runs came in on a fielding error. The only other scoring in the game came in the bottom of the fifth when the Royals scored three runs, including two on a home run by Ellie Baker.
