NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team fell victim to big innings by No. 22-ranked Saint Mary's University in the middle innings of each game of 7-1 and 7-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) losses on Sunday afternoon at Mabel Shirley Field.

Saint Mary's (27-3, 12-0 MIAC) used a four-run fourth in game one and a five-run fifth in game two to sweep St. Olaf (13-13, 4-6 MIAC) and extend its winning streak to 17 games. The Cardinals have not lost since a 6-5 defeat to Moravian University on March 6. Juniors Roxanne Ring and Abby Nevin both homered on the day for the Oles.

St. Olaf will be back at Mabel Shirley Field for a doubleheader against Augsburg University on Wednesday, April 16 starting at 3:30 p.m.

Saint Mary's 7, St. Olaf 1 | Box Score

Saint Mary's pushed across four runs in the fourth to turn a 1-0 lead into a 5-0 cushion and went on to take the opener behind a complete game from Makayla Steffes. Steffes, who was a National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Third Team All-American last season, limited St. Olaf to one run on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Ring belted a solo home run in the seventh for the lone run of the game for the Oles, who were outhit by a 12-4 margin. Fifth-year Shreya Ashok had two of St. Olaf's four hits, while senior Medora Rylee had the other outside of Ring's home run.

St. Olaf got its first two batters on in the bottom of the first on a walk to sophomore Regan Zak and a bunt single by Ashok but was unable to advance either runner. With runners on first and second and one out, sophomore Eva Hokanson laced a line drive right to first base for a double play to end the inning.

After pushing across an unearned run in the top of the second, Saint Mary's scored four runs in the top of the fourth while hitting just one ball out of the infield to open up a 5-0 lead. The Cardinals added two more runs in the top of the sixth before Ring led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run to left for the final run of the game. The home run was the second of Ring's career and her first of the season.

Saint Mary's 7, St. Olaf 3 | Box Score

After falling behind 6-0, St. Olaf scored three times in the bottom of the fifth to cut its deficit in half but could not get any closer. Naleya Bork scattered nine hits while giving up three runs with one walk and six strikeouts in a complete game for Saint Mary's.

The Oles outhit the Cardinals by a 9-8 margin, led by a 3-for-4 performance from senior Medora Rylee, who had two doubles, scored a run, and drove in another. Hokanson and senior Amelia Christenson picked up two hits apiece.

St. Olaf nearly opened the scoring with three consecutive two-out singles in the bottom of the third, but Allison Ciero threw Ashok out at the plate when Ashok tried to score on Hokanson's single through the right side of the infield. Bork broke the deadlock in the next half inning with a two-out, run-scoring single for the visitors.

Peyton Berg's three-run home run highlighted Saint Mary's five-run fifth that extended the Cardinals' lead to 6-0. The Oles responded with three runs in the home half of the inning, starting with Nevin's first collegiate home run, which hit off the glove of a leaping center fielder at the fence. Later in the inning, Rylee delivered an RBI double and Hokanson followed with a run-scoring single to bring St. Olaf within three at 6-3.

Saint Mary's added an insurance run in the top of the sixth and Bork retired the final seven Oles to come to the plate, as the Cardinals remained the lone unbeaten team in the MIAC standings.