ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team got a one-hit shutout from junior Roxanne Ring in the opener, as the Oles swept Hamline University by scores of 8-0 (five innings) and 6-5 (eight innings) for its second Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) sweep in a row on Saturday afternoon at Meredith Field.

Ring tossed her first shutout of the season and St. Olaf (16-13, 7-6 MIAC) used two four-run innings to blank Hamline (13-19, 3-11 MIAC) via the run rule in game one. In game two, the Oles held a 5-1 lead in the fifth before the Pipers forced the game to extra innings, but St. Olaf won it on a squeeze bunt in the eighth to complete the sweep.

The Oles will match up with Carleton College on Tuesday ,April 22 in a doubleheader starting at 3:30 p.m. at Mabel Shirley Field.

St. Olaf 8, Hamline 0 (5 inn.) | Box Score

Ring held Hamline to one hit and two walks while striking out two in the five-inning complete game to move to 8-3 on the season. The only hit the junior gave up was a two-out single in the bottom of the third.

Senior Medora Rylee was 3-for-3 with two doubles, two runs scored, and three RBI to lead the way offensively for St. Olaf. Junior Elle Brandt was 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI, while senior Amelia Christenson and sophomore Rylan Nakamura had two hits apiece.

The Oles put four runs on the board in the top of the first to get out to an early lead. After getting on with a walk and a single, sophomore Regan Zak and fifth-year senior Shreya Ashok executed a double steal of second and home for the first run of the game. Rylee followed with a run-scoring triple to right before Ring plated Rylee with a ground out. Brandt singled in the final run of the inning with two outs.

Ring pitched around two walks in the bottom of the first, as the score remained 4-0 until the top of the fourth. Brandt led off the inning with a solo shot to left for her team-leading fifth home run of the season. Later in the inning, two runs scored when Rylee drove the ball into the gap in left center and two Hamline outfielders collided after the ball fell. Two batters later, Christenson singled to left to score Rylee for the final run of the game.

St. Olaf 6, Hamline 5 (8 inn.) | Box Score

St. Olaf scored at least one run in four of the first five innings to build a 5-1 lead before Hamline scored four unanswered runs to force the game to extra innings. In the eighth, the Oles used a pair of sacrifice bunts to bring home their runner from second and junior Madyn Singleton set the Pipers down in order for her first collegiate save.

Rylee got on base all four times by going 2-for-2 with two walks, a double, one run scored, and one RBI, while fifth-year senior Jaelyn Orth was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Orth also picked up the win in the circle after allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits with four walks and two strikeouts over the first 7.0 innings.

After Zak led off the game with a single and stole second, Rylee doubled to left center to score Zak for the first run of the game three batters in. Hamline got the run back in the bottom of the first, but the Oles took the lead right back in the next half inning. Brandt led off the top of the second with a triple to left and scored on a ground out by junior Abby Nevin.

St. Olaf put together a two-out rally in the top of the fourth to extend its lead to 4-1. After the first two batters of the inning got out, Nevin doubled to right and scored on a single by Nakamura, who got to second on the play before scoring on an opposite-field double by Orth.

Sophomore Eva Hokanson pushed the Oles' lead to 5-1 with a run-scoring single in the fifth, but the Pipers scored three times in the fifth and again in the seventh when down to its final out to send the game to extra innings. In the eighth, Nakamura and Orth successfully executed sacrifice bunts to bring Nevin around for the eventual game-winning run. Singleton got three fly balls to retire Hamline in order in the bottom of the inning.