NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Sophomore Cole Pleimann hit a walk-off single in the eighth inning to give the St. Olaf College baseball team a 3-2 extra-innings win over Macalester College in game one before the Scots picked up a 12-7 victory in game two on Wednesday afternoon at Mark Almli Field.

After St. Olaf (19-10, 10-4 MIAC) overcame a 3-0 deficit to send the game to extra innings, Pleimann dropped a single into center field to score junior Mason Buck to give the Oles a walk-off victory in game one. Macalester (11-20, 4-12 MIAC) got out to an 8-0 lead early on its way to a 12-7 win in game two to claim a split.

The game-one victory was St. Olaf's 100th win in the all-time series with Macalester, which is the third-highest total for the Oles against any opponent. The Scots' game-two win snapped St. Olaf's seven-game winning streak in the series between the two programs.

St. Olaf will travel to Arden Hills for a doubleheader against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) leader Bethel University starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 26. The Royals were ranked No. 25 in this week's D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (ABCA) Top 25 poll.

St. Olaf 3, Macalester 2 (8 inn.) | Box Score

Macalester led 2-0 midway through the fourth inning before St. Olaf scored in the fourth and sixth innings to extend the game to extra innings. In the eighth, Pleimann singled off the glove of a leaping Macalester second baseman to score Buck from second for the game-winning run.

Buck and senior Evan Hammonds had two hits apiece in the win. Buck was 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI, while Hammonds was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Junior Breckin Hadley hit a solo home run and was walked twice, including once intentionally to set the stage for Pleimann's walk-off hit.

St. Olaf used five pitchers in the win, three of whom primarily serve as position players. Senior Jack Alley and junior Christopher Woodside threw 2.0 scoreless innings apiece before senior Jacob Fickenscher struck out one in a 1-2-3 seventh. Senior Matthew Oberlander recorded his fifth win of the season by working around a walk to throw a scoreless eighth.

Macalester put the first runs on the board on a two-out, two-run single to center by Holden Peacock in the top of the fourth after the Scots loaded the bases on a single, a walk, and a hit batter. Hadley cut St. Olaf's deficit in half in the bottom of the inning with a two-out solo shot to right for his third home run of the season.

The Scots clung to the 2-1 lead until the Oles pulled even in the bottom of the sixth. Hammonds led off the inning with a single, got to second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a single by Buck. St. Olaf put two runners on in the bottom of the seventh but could not score.

After Oberlander put up a zero in the top of the eighth, senior Matthew Kulesa drew a walk to start the home half of the inning before Buck grounded into a fielder's choice and got to second on a wild pitch. Hadley was intentionally walked with a 2-0 count to put two on for Pleimann, who singled on the first pitch to end the game. The single was Pleimann's second walk-off plate appearance in the last five days after he hit a game-winning sacrifice fly in game one against Augsburg University on Saturday.

Macalester 12, St. Olaf 7 | Box Score

Macalester scored twice in the first and six times in the second to build an 8-0 lead on its way to winning game two. St. Olaf got within 10-6 after three innings and trimmed another run off its deficit in the fifth but was unable to get any closer.

Buck and Woodside posted multi-hit games in the loss for the Oles, who got a three-run home run from junior Frank Lavin as well. Buck was 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Woodside was 2-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI. Sophomore Jack Nord was the only one of St. Olaf's five pitchers to not yield a run by throwing 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.

After scoring twice in the first, Macalester tacked on six runs on just three hits in the top of the second to open up an 8-0 cushion. St. Olaf chipped away at the deficit right away when Lavin followed singled by Alley and Woodside with a three-run home run to left center in the bottom of the second for his team-leading fourth home run of the season.

The Scots responded with two runs in the third before the Oles got those runs back in the next half inning. After a Macalester error and a hit batter put two on to start the inning, Pleimann doubled to the gap in right center to score Buck. Alley knocked in a run with a ground out before Woodside singled to left to bring in Pleimann and make it a 10-6 game.

With St. Olaf still down by four, Hadley started the bottom of the fifth by singling and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch to bring the Oles within three. Macalester started the top of the sixth with a single and a two-run home run to push its lead to five and got 5.0 innings of one-run relief from Jacob Posner to see out the win.