NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team picked up a 9-1 run-rule victory in game two after Bethel University won game one by a 7-3 margin, as the teams split their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon at Mabel Shirley Field.

After St. Olaf (11-9, 2-2 MIAC) scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to tie game one at 3-3, Bethel (10-11, 4-2 MIAC) plated four runs in the top of the seventh to claim a 7-3 victory. The Oles bounced back by scoring eight runs in the third and fourth innings – highlighted by a grand slam by junior Elle Brandt – on their way to the five-inning win.

St. Olaf will take on the College of Saint Benedict in the second of its back-to-back home doubleheaders on Wednesday, April 9 starting at 3:30 p.m. at Mabel Shirley Field.

Bethel 7, St. Olaf 3 | Box Score

Bethel took a 3-1 lead in the opener with two runs in the top of the sixth before St. Olaf answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning. The Royals broke the second tie of the game with four runs in the top of the seventh, thanks to a three-run home run by Ellie Baker.

Dominique Walicke limited St. Olaf to six hits in the complete-game win for Bethel but walked five, as the Oles left nine runners on base in game one. Six Oles had one hit apiece, including sophomore Rylan Nakamura, Brandt, and junior Belle Schmidt, who all knocked in a run apiece.

St. Olaf put the first run in the board in the bottom of the second on a squeeze bunt by Brandt that scored senior Medora Rylee, who led off the inning with a double before getting to third on a fly out. Bethel got the run back in the top of the fourth on a leadoff home run by Autumn Earney and threatened for more runs in the inning, but Brandt threw a runner out at the plate for the second out after the Royals loaded the bases with one out.

Bethel took its first lead of the day with two runs on four hits in the top of the sixth, but St. Olaf responded with two runs in the next half inning. Sophomore Eva Hokanson started the inning with a double and pinch-runner Kyra Narum later scored on a single by Nakamura. Schmidt added a two-out, run-scoring single later in the inning to tie the game at 3-3.

Baker's three-run home run to left field did most of the damage in Bethel's decisive four-run top of the seventh. St. Olaf got two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh but was unable to push across any runs.

St. Olaf 9, Bethel 1 (5 inn.) | Box Score

Brandt's third-inning grand slam and a complete game from junior Madyn Singleton propelled St. Olaf to the game-two victory. Singleton held Bethel to one unearned run on three hits with two walks and one strikeout in her first complete game of the season to move to 2-2 on the year.

Brandt was one of seven Oles with at least one hit in game two, as Nakamura had the lone multi-hit game for St. Olaf by going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Rylee had a double, a walk, and scored twice out of the leadoff spot.

Like the opener, St. Olaf got a run in the top of the second to open the scoring, as Nakamura bounced a single up the middle after senior Amelia Christenson drew a leadoff walk and got to second on a wild pitch. After the throw on the play came to the plate, an errant throw to try and get Nakamura at second got away, allowing Christenson to score.

The Oles broke the game open in the bottom of the second with five runs on four hits. Rylee started the inning with a double, got to third on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Regan Zak, and scored on a wild pitch. Two infield hits and a walk loaded the bases with two outs for Brandt, who drove a grand slam over the fence in left for her team-leading third home run of the season.

St. Olaf tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fourth, getting runs on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Hokanson, another wild pitch, and a two-out single by Singleton. Bethel got its lone run of the game in the top of the fifth but was unable to avoid the run rule after leaving two runners on in the inning.