NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team held crosstown-rival Carleton College to five hits while shutting out the Knights by scores of 4-0 and 2-0 in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play on Tuesday afternoon at Mabel Shirley Field.

Junior Roxanne Ring, junior Madyn Singleton, and fifth-year senior Jaelyn Orth pitched St. Olaf (19-13, 10-6 MIAC) to the back-to-back shutouts of Carleton (10-24, 4-12 MIAC), limiting the Knights to a .114 batting average (5-for-44) on the day with just one walk. After Ring threw a two-hit shutout in game one, Singleton and Orth combined for a three-hitter in game two, as the Oles recorded their third consecutive MIAC sweep.

The sweep extended St. Olaf's recent dominance of the series with Carleton, as the Oles have won 14 of the last 15 games between the Northfield rivals since 2017. Ring, Singleton, and Orth held Carleton hitless in 12 at-bats with runners on base to give St. Olaf its first two-shutout sweep since April 15, 2023 at Hamline University.

The Oles, who moved up to third place in the MIAC standings with the sweep, will hit the road for back-to-back doubleheaders this weekend, starting with a trip to Gustavus Adolphus College on Saturday, April 26 for a 1 p.m. start.

St. Olaf 4, Carleton 0 | Box Score

One day after being named the MIAC Softball Pitcher of the Week, Ring tossed her second consecutive shutout by yielding just two hits with no walks, one hit batter, and three strikeouts in a 69-pitch complete game. The shutout was the third of the career for Ring, who improved to 9-3 on the season with the win.

St. Olaf got the only run it needed in the second before adding a run in the fifth and two in the sixth. Sophomore Regan Zak and junior Elle Brandt had two hits apiece in the win, with Brandt driving in the first run and Zak scoring once.

The Oles gave Ring all the run support she needed with a run in the second inning on a two-out infield hit by Brandt. The hit came after senior Amelia Christenson drew a leadoff walk – one of her three walks in the game – before advancing on a sacrifice bunt by Ring and a ground out by sophomore Eva Hokanson.

In the fifth, St. Olaf added to its lead when Zak doubled with one out and came in on a two-out double by senior Medora Rylee, who was named the MIAC Softball Player of the Week on Monday and the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) National Player of the Week on Tuesday.

Fifth-year senior Shreya Ashok gave the Oles more insurance in the bottom of the sixth by bouncing a two-out, two-run single through the right side after coming to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. The only hits Ring gave up were a leadoff single in the fourth and a two-out single in the sixth, with a double-play grounder erasing the fourth-inning hit.

St. Olaf 2, Carleton 0 | Box Score

Singleton and Orth combined for a three-hit shutout and Hokanson blasted a fourth-inning home run for the lone scoring of game two. Hokanson was 2-for-3 with a double and the decisive two-run home run, as she and junior Belle Schmidt combined for four of the Oles' six hits in the win.

Singleton leveled her record at 3-3 on the season after limiting Carleton to two hits and one walk with one strikeout over 4.0 innings. Orth earned the first save of her career by giving up just one hit in 3.0 innings of shutout relief.

After St. Olaf was unable to capitalize on a one-out double by Hokanson in the bottom of the second, Natasha Paez started the top of the third with a double for Carleton but was erased while trying to take third base on a ground out in the next plate appearance. Bryanna Schaffer hit a one-out double in the top of the fourth for the Knights but was left at second.

The Oles finally broke the deadlock in the bottom of the fourth when Christenson lined a single up the middle with two outs before Hokanson delivered a two-run home run to left for her first home run of the season. The long ball was the fourth of Hokanson's career.

Carleton got a leadoff single in the top of the fifth and a leadoff error in the top of the seventh but was unable to get a hit with a runner on.