WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The St. Olaf College baseball team held Massachusetts Institute of Technology to one run on six hits in 3-1 and 4-0 victories over the Engineers on Saturday at Chain of Lakes Park.

In the first-ever meetings between the two programs, five Ole pitchers held MIT (0-2) in check to lead St. Olaf (3-0) to the sweep and a 3-0 start. First year Lucas Pusterla delivered the tie-breaking two-run single in the fifth inning of game one and senior Breckin Hadley homered in game two to back the pitching staff's efforts.

St. Olaf will close out its first trip to Florida against Grove City College with a single 10 a.m. CST start on Sunday, March 1.

St. Olaf 3, MIT 1 | Box Score

Junior Sam Hruska, first year Jack Leisen-Whalen, and senior Jack Pettit limited MIT to one run on four hits with three walks and eight strikeouts to pitch St. Olaf to the game-one win. Pettit earned the win in relief with 3.0 shutout innings while surrendering two hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

In his return from a lengthy injury, Hruska retired all six batters he faced with three strikeouts over the first 2.0 frames. Leisen-Whelan tossed 2.0 innings of one-run relief in his collegiate debut.

Six Oles had at least one hit offensively, led by a 3-for-4 performance from senior Frank Lavin, who also scored a run. Hadley and first year Dex Pudduck recorded two hits apiece, with Pudduck also scoring a run.

After MIT opened the scoring with a run in the top of the fourth, St. Olaf got the run back in the bottom of the inning when Pudduck reached on a two-out single and scored on a triple by senior Mason Buck. Pusterla delivered the go-ahead two-run single in the fifth after coming to the plate with the bases loaded and one out.

The Engineers put together a threat in the top of the seventh when the first two patters of the inning reached, but Pettit got a ground ball and back-to-back strikeouts to close out the first win of his collegiate career.

St. Olaf 4, MIT 0 | Box Score

First years Alex Oehlke and Tate Williams combined for a two-hit shutout with two walks and two strikeouts in game two of the sweep. Oehlke picked up the win with 5.0 innings of one-hit ball, while Williams registered the save with 2.0 innings of one-hit relief.

Three MIT pitchers held the Oles to four hits, but St. Olaf's offense came to life with three runs in the final two innings to give Williams a cushion. Seniors accounted for three of the Oles' four hits and all four of the team's RBI.

St. Olaf got on the board first in the top of the second when junior Kanen Kreafle singled with one out and scored on a double by senior Christopher Woodside. The score remained 1-0 all the way until the top of the sixth when Hadley clubbed a two-run home run after junior Cole Pleimann drew a one-out walk.

The Oles added another insurance run in the top of the seventh when senior Calvin Keesler delivered a two-out, run-scoring single to bring in Woodside, who had started the inning with a walk.