ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team scored three runs in the seventh inning to claim a 5-4 come-from-behind victory in game two and sweep the University of Northwestern after a 4-1 win in game one on Wednesday at Reynolds Field.

After winning the opener, St. Olaf (6-2) was down 5-2 to Northwestern (11-7) heading into its final at bat before scoring three runs, two on a go-ahead single by junior Elle Brandt, to grab the lead and went on to finish off the sweep. In game one, junior Madyn Singleton and fifth-year senior Jaelyn Orth pitched the Oles to a 4-1 victory, holding in check a Northwestern offense that had scored 57 runs over the course of its six-game winning streak entering the day.

The doubleheader sweep completed a regular-season sweep of Northwestern after the Oles topped the Eagles by an 8-2 score on Feb. 22 in Mankato. St. Olaf's 6-2 start through eight games its best since also starting 6-2 in 2021.

The Oles will head to California for four doubleheaders from March 26-30, starting the trip at the University of La Verne.

St. Olaf 4, Northwestern 1 | Box Score

Singleton and Orth combined to hold Northwestern scoreless after the first inning to pitch St. Olaf to a win in the opener. The game marked the second time this season the duo held the Eagles in check, as Singleton and Orth limited Northwestern to two runs on four hits in the Feb. 22 meeting.

Orth earned her second victory of the season after throwing 4.0 shutout innings in relief of Singleton, allowing four hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Singleton yielded one run on three hits with one walk and one strikeout over the first 3.0 frames.

Offensively, fifth-year senior Shreya Ashok and sophomore Regan Zak accounted for four of the Oles' seven hits out of the first and last spots in the order. Zak reached base all three times by going 2-for-2 with a walk, three stolen bases, a run scored, and one RBI. Ashok was 2-for-4 and also knocked in a run.

St. Olaf nearly put a crooked number on the board in the top of the first, but Riley Summers made a diving catch in right field on a line drive off the bat of senior Amelia Christenson to get Northwestern out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam. The hosts loaded the bases themselves with nobody in the bottom of the first and got the opening run on a fielder's choice before a line-drive double play ended the inning.

In the top of the fourth, the Oles took the lead with a two-run inning, snapping a stretch of 30 innings in a row that Northwestern had now allow a run in. After an error and a single by Christenson started the inning, Singleton advanced both runners with a sacrifice before Brandt dropped down a squeeze bunt to tie the game. Zak followed by slapping a single through the left side to score Christenson for the go-ahead run.

Still ahead 2-1, St. Olaf added to its lead in the top of the sixth with two more runs. Orth drew a walk to start the inning and moved up on another sacrifice bunt by Brandt before Zak singled and stole second to put two runners in scoring position with one out. After a passed ball brought in Orth and got Zak to third, Ashok singled up the middle for the final run of the game.

St. Olaf 5, Northwestern 4 | Box Score

Northwestern built a 4-0 lead after three innings before St. Olaf scored the final five runs of the game to complete the sweep. The Oles scored single runs in the fourth and fifth before Brandt's go-ahead single finished off the three-run seventh inning.

Senior Medora Rylee led St. Olaf's 11-hit attack by going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored. Ashok reached base three times by going 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, while Nakamura and Brandt both drove in two runs. Nakamura hit her first collegiate home run in the win.

After first year Amelia Burns got the first two outs, junior Roxanne Ring worked the final 6.1 innings and moved to 3-0 on the season after giving up four runs on seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

Northwestern opened the scoring and snapped Ring's streak of not allowing an earned run in 14.2 innings to start the season with a run in the second and got three more in the third to open up a 4-0 lead. Nakamura started St. Olaf's rally with a solo home run down the left-field line with one out in the fourth for the first extra-base hit of Nakamura's career.

The Oles crept closer in the top of the fifth with three consecutive two-out hits, as sophomore Eva Hokanson lined a run-scoring single into left after Rylee doubled and Ashok reached on an infield hit. The Eagles maintained their 4-2 lead heading into the seventh, setting the stage for the decisive half inning.

Five of St. Olaf's first six batters reached in the top of the seventh, starting with a double by Rylee and a walk to Ashok. After a fly out, Christenson singled to left to fill the bases for Nakamura, who coaxed a bases-loaded walk to bring the Oles within a run. On the first pitch of the next at bat, Brandt lined a single into center field to plate two runs and give St. Olaf a 5-4 lead.

Northwestern kept its deficit at one heading into the bottom of the inning with back-to-back strikeouts to leave runners and second and third. In the home half of the seventh, the Eagles got a leadoff single before moving the runner into scoring position with a bunt. A ground ball to short moved the tying run to third, but Ring got the cleanup hitter to hit a grounder back to the circle for the final out.