NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College baseball team fell behind early and could not recover in a 9-6 non-conference loss to UW-Eau Claire on Wednesday afternoon at Mark Almli Field.

In the first meeting between the two programs since 1994, UW-Eau Claire (8-28) scored four runs in the first inning en route to building an 8-1 lead and held off St. Olaf (20-14) the rest of the way. The Oles, who entered the game ranked in the top 10 nationally in team fielding percentage, committed five errors and issued nine walks in the loss.

Senior Matthew Kulesa was 3-for-3 with a double, a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and three runs scored for St. Olaf, which out hit UW-Eau Claire by a 10-7 margin in the game. Sophomore Cole Pleimann went 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI, while junior Breckin Hadley was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI.

The Blugolds jumped out to a 4-0 lead with four runs on four hits and two St. Olaf errors in the top of the first. The Oles got one of the runs back in the home half of the inning when Pleimann grounded into a fielder's choice after Kulesa, junior Mason Buck, and Hadley strung together three consecutive singles to load the bases with one out.

UW-Eau Claire scored at least one run in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to stretch its lead to 8-4 before St. Olaf put together a three-run fifth to get within four. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Kulesa and Buck reached on a hit-by-pitch and a walk before Hadley lined a two-run double to right center to score them both. Pleimann followed with an RBI double to right to cap the four-run frame.

St. Olaf crept to within two with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh, scoring on a pinch-hit triple by first year Johnny Panarese and a single by Pleimann in the next at bat. Panarese has a triple and a home run to his credit in just three plate appearances this season. The Blugolds pushed across the final run of the game on a wild pitch in the top of the eighth.

The Oles started the bottom of the ninth with a double by senior Evan Hammonds and a single by Kulesa to put runners on the corners with nobody out and get the tying run to the plate, but the Blugolds' bullpen retired the next three batters without the runners advancing.

St. Olaf will host Carleton College on Senior Day to conclude the regular season on Saturday, May 3 in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. The Oles will secure a spot in the four-team Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs with two wins or by matching the number of wins Saint Mary's University gets in its twin bill against Bethel University.