COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The fourth-seeded St. Olaf College baseball team held a 5-1 lead late before top-seeded and No. 17/18-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College scored the final five runs to claim a 6-5 walk-off win in 10 innings to begin the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Baseball Playoffs on Thursday afternoon at Becker Park.

Senior Jacob Fickenscher held Gustavus (34-7) to one run over the first seven innings to help St. Olaf (22-15) to the 5-1 lead, but the Gusties scored three times in the eighth and once more in the ninth to send the game to extra innings. In the 10th, Gustavus loaded the bases with nobody out before Oliver Leupold delivered a walk-off single.

With the loss, St. Olaf will play an elimination game against the loser of the 7 p.m. game between second-seeded Bethel University and third-seeded Saint John's University at noon on Friday, May 9. Gustavus, which was ranked No. 17 this week in the D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Top 25 and No. 18 in the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) NCAA Division III Coaches Poll, will face the winner of the game between the Royals and Johnnies at 3 p.m.

Fickenscher took a no-decision after allowing four runs on eight hits with three walks and six strikeouts over 7.2 innings of work. In his first appearance in nearly a month, sophomore Kieran Haaland took the loss after yielding two runs in 1.1 innings of relief.

Senior Evan Hammonds and junior Breckin Hadley combined for five of St. Olaf's eight hits in the loss. Hammonds was 3-for-5 with a double, a run scored, and a walk, while Hadley was 2-for-3 with a solo home run. Juniors Christopher Woodside and Brendan Goldman had a hit and an RBI apiece.

After being held to one hit in 6.0 innings by Adam Biewen nine days earlier, the Oles jumped on the right-hander for three runs in the top of the first to stake Fickenscher to an early cushion. Senior Matthew Kulesa led off with a double and came in after a pair of wild pitches, the second of which came after a walk to sophomore Cole Pleimann put two on. Woodside knocked in the second run with a bunt single before Hammonds provided a two-out, run-scoring single in the next at-bat.

Gustavus got on the board with a run in the bottom of the third before Fickenscher got a 6-4-3 double play to avoid further damage. St. Olaf got the run right back in the next half inning on a ground out by Goldman. Hammonds and Hadley started the inning with singles before senior Jack Alley advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt to set the table for Goldman.

In the sixth, Hadley hit an opposite-field solo home run with two outs to extend the Oles' lead to 5-1 with his fourth homer of the season. The Gusties loaded the bases with nobody out in the home half of the sixth, but Fickenscher got a line-drive double play and a called third strike to put up another zero.

After St. Olaf left two runners in scoring position in the top of the eighth, Gustavus generated a two-out rally to score three runs in the bottom of the frame. After Fickenscher retired two of the first three batters of the inning, five consecutive Gusties reached base before Haaland came on to get a called third strike to end the inning.

Gustavus pushed the game to extra innings with a run in the bottom of the ninth, although the Oles limited the Gusties to one run after Gustavus had the bases loaded with nobody out. With the game still tied at 5-5, Drake Siens led off the bottom of the 10th before eventually scoring on Leupold's single up the middle to win it for the Gusties.