MANKATO, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team posted its second consecutive split to start the season with an 8-2 victory over the University of Northwestern and a 3-2 loss to UW-La Crosse on Saturday at the MSU Dome.

To start the day, St. Olaf (2-2) got out to an early lead and broke open its win over Northwestern (1-3) with a five-run top of the seventh inning. Despite being limited to one hit, the Oles mounted a late rally against UW-La Crosse (3-1) later in the day but came up one run short.

The Oles will close out the dome portion of their schedule with a rematch against UW-La Crosse (4:30 p.m.) and a meeting with UW-Stout (6:30 p.m.) on Saturday, March 1 at the Rochester Regional Dome.

St. Olaf 8, Northwestern 2 | Box Score

Junior Roxanne Ring reached base all four times, going 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, one RBI, and three runs scored to lead the way offensively for St. Olaf in the opener. Fifth-year senior Jaelyn Orth retired 12 of the 13 batters she faced over 4.0 innings of shutout relief to pick up the win.

Orth walked one batter and had one strikeout over her 4.0 innings of work to record her first victory of the season. The fifth-year senior took over in the fourth after junior Madyn Singleton worked the first three-plus innings.

In addition to Ring's 3-for-3 game, fifth-year senior Shreya Ashok was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI and sophomore Rylan Nakamura also knocked in a pair of runs. Sophomore Regan Zak went 1-for-2 with two walks, a stolen base, and a run scored as well.

Nakamura delivered a two-out, two-run single down the left-field line in the top of the second to give St. Olaf an early lead, as the Oles capitalized on a pair of walks in the inning. The Oles added a run to their lead in the fourth when Ring scored on a passed ball after leading off the inning with a double.

Northwestern started the fourth with three consecutive hits to get within a run, but Orth kept the lead in tact after coming on in relief of Singleton. The score remained 3-2 until St. Olaf scored five runs on four hits in the top of the seventh to break the game open, with Ashok delivering a two-run single in the inning. Sophomore Eva Hokanson, Ring, and Orth also had run-scoring hits in the frame.

UW-La Crosse 3, St. Olaf 2 | Box Score

UW-La Crosse scored single runs in the first, fifth, and sixth innings to build a 3-0 lead and held off St. Olaf despite a two-run sixth inning by the Oles. Senior Medora Rylee had the lone hit of the game for St. Olaf, which scratched across its two runs on a dropped fly ball with two outs.

In her first collegiate appearance, first year Amelia Burns struck out seven over 5.1 innings of work, allowing three runs on five hits. Ring worked the final 1.2 innings and did not allow a run with a pair of strikeouts.

Trailing 3-0, St. Olaf put together a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Nakamura was hit by a pitch and Rylee singled to center, putting runners on second and third with two outs after Rylee got to second on the throw to third base. Ring proceeded to hit a fly ball that was dropped in the outfield, allowing both runners to score and make it a 3-2 game.

Ring left two Eagle runners in scoring position in the top of the seventh to give the Oles a shot at a walk-off win, but St. Olaf could not take advantage of a two-out error in the next half inning.