LA VERNE, Calif. – The St. Olaf College softball team began its eight-game trip to California by sweeping the University of La Verne by scores of 9-3 and 11-3 in the first-ever meetings between the two programs on Thursday at Campus West.

St. Olaf (8-2) tallied 20 runs on 27 hits and hit .415 as a team on its way to sweeping La Verne (11-8). Junior Roxanne Ring and fifth-year senior Jaelyn Orth combined to allow just four earned runs over 13.0 innings in the circle for the Oles.

After a day off, St. Olaf will be back in action with a doubleheader at Pomona-Pitzer on Friday, March 28 starting at 2 p.m. CDT.

St. Olaf 9, La Verne 3 | Box Score

Jaelyn Orth threw her first complete game of the season, holding La Verne to three runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts. St. Olaf's offense backed Orth by scoring four runs in the sixth and two in the seventh to break a 3-3 tie.

Rign and sophomore Regan Zak were two of the four Oles who had multi-hit games and drove in three runs apiece in the win. Zak was 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBI, while Ring was 2-for-3 with a double, a run scored, and three RBI. Sophomores Eva Hokanson and Rylan Nakamura tallied three hits apiece, with Hokanson driving in a run and scoring a run and Nakamura scoring twice and stealing two bases.

St. Olaf jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with a run in the first and two in the second. Hokanson knocked in the first run of the game with a two-out single in the first after fifth-year senior Shreya Ashok singled with one out and stole second. Zak plated two runs by slapping a triple over the center fielder's head with two outs in the second.

La Verne tied the game on a two-out, three-run home run by Alyssa Campbell in the fifth, but the Oles responded with four runs on five hits in the bottom of the inning to take the lead back. With runners on second and third and one out, Ring drove an opposite-field single to right for the first run of the inning. Orth added a run-scoring squeeze bunt before junior Elle Brandt doubled in a run and Zak singled in another for her career-high third RBI of the game.

In the seventh, St. Olaf filled the bases with consecutive one-out singles by Hokanson, senior Amelia Christenson, and Nakamura before Ring roped a two-run double to the gap in left center for the final runs of the game. The nine runs were more than enough for Orth, who has a 1.52 ERA in six appearances this season.

St. Olaf 11, La Verne 3 | Box Score

Ring led the way at the plate and in the circle for St. Olaf in game two. In the circle, the junior limited La Verne to two runs (one earned) on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts to improve to 4-0 on the season. Ring also capped a five-hit, five-RBI day by going 3-for-5 with a double, two runs scored, and two RBI.

Zak, Ashok, senior Medora Rylee, and junior Belle Schmidt registered two hits apiece, as St. Olaf recorded a season-high 14 hits in the win. Sophomore Rylan Nakamura drew three walks, scored twice, and drove in two runs as well.

Like in game one, the Oles took the lead in the top of the first after tallying five hits in the inning. Zak and Ashok opened the game with consecutive singles and moved up a base each on a throwing error after Ashok's single. Zak proceeded to score when Ashok tried to steal second but got caught in a rundown. After three consecutive singles, Nakamura plated the second run of the inning with a sacrifice fly.

St. Olaf opened up a 5-0 lead with three runs in the top of the third, capitalizing on three walks in the inning. After walks to Ashok and Hokanson plus a single by Ring loaded the bases, Nakamura drew a walk to bring in a run. Two batters later, Brandt reached on an error that resulted in two more runs.

The Leopards got two runs off Ring in the third to get within three, but the Oles scored the next six runs, starting with a two-out RBI double by Brandt in the fifth. Ring doubled in two more runs and Christenson followed with a run-scoring single in the sixth. St. Olaf got runs on a throwing error on a stolen base and a RBI single by Ashok in the seventh before first year Amelia Burns got the final three outs in the circle.