CLAREMONT, Calif. – After dropping game one by a 7-1 margin, the St. Olaf College softball team rallied from a 3-1 deficit for a 4-3 victory in game two to gain a split against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Saturday afternoon at Athena Field.

Despite being outhit by a 22-9 count on the day, St. Olaf (9-5) came away with a split after getting clutch two-out, run-scoring hits from sophomore Kyra Narum and junior Roxanne Ring in the middle innings of game two. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (13-6) used a six-run sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie in the opener.

The Oles will wrap up their trip to California with a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Whittier College on Sunday, March 30.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 7, St. Olaf 1 | Box Score

Fifth-year senior Jaelyn Orth and Hannah Adams were locked in a pitchers' duel in game one, as the two teams were tied at 1-1 until Claremont-Mudd-Scripps scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth. Adams limited St. Olaf to one unearned run on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts to improve to 7-1 on the season.

Orth held the Athenas to one run on six hits through the first five innings before the hosts tallied six runs on eight hits – four of which did not leave the infield – in the sixth. Orth struck out five and had just one walk over her six-inning complete game.

Fifth-year senior Shreya Ashok and junior Belle Schmidt had two hits apiece to combine for four of the Oles' five hits. Schmidt scored the lone run of the game for St. Olaf, while senior Amelia Christenson added a double.

Both teams left two runners on base in each of the first two innings, as the game remained scoreless until CMS opened the scoring on a two-out, run-scoring double in the bottom of the fourth after the Oles could not capitalize on Christenson's leadoff double in the top of the inning. St. Olaf got the run back in the next half inning, however, as Schmidt led off with a single, got to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Regan Zak, and scored when the throw to the plate on a single by Ashok got away from the catcher.

Eight of the first nine Athenas to come to the plate in the decisive bottom of the sixth recorded singles, leading to the six-run inning. Adams retired the final eight Oles she faced after Ashok's single in the fifth.

St. Olaf 4, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 3 | Box Score

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps led 3-1 after three innings before St. Olaf scored the final three runs of the game. The Oles got a game-tying, two-run single from Narum in the fourth and a go-ahead, run-scoring single from Ring in the fifth to claim the come-from-behind win.

In addition to driving in the winning run, Ring threw 4.1 innings of shutout relief to move to 5-0 on the season after holding the Athenas to three hits with no walks and a pair of strikeouts. Junior Madyn Singleton worked the first 2.2 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits with no walks and one strikeout.

St. Olaf took its first lead of the day on a two-out RBI single by sophomore Eva Hokanson in the bottom of the first. The hit came after Zak drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and got to third with two outs on a wild pitch.

CMS struck right back in the bottom of the first, starting the inning with two doubles on either side of a single to grab a 2-1 lead. The Athenas added to their lead in the bottom of the third with an unearned run to open up a two-run cushion.

In the top of the fourth, the Oles filled the bases with nobody out on a single by Christenson and back-to-back walks to Hokanson and sophomore Rylan Nakamura. With the bases still loaded and two outs, Narum dropped a two-run single into right field to tie the game at 3-3, although the Athenas kept the game by getting out of the inning with the bases loaded. Narum's hit was the first of her collegiate career and resulted in her first RBI as an Ole.

St. Olaf again capitalized on walks by the CMS pitching staff – which had six in the game – in the fifth. Ashok drew a leadoff walk and moved up on a bunt by Christenson before a lineout to the circle left Ashok at second with two outs. Nakamura kept the inning alive by coaxing a walk before Ring lined the first pitch into right center to bring home Ashok for the eventual game-winning run.

Ring made the one-run lead stand up by working around a leadoff single in the fifth and a two-out single in the seventh. The junior retired 10 of the final 12 batters she faced.