OSKALOOSA, Iowa – The St. Olaf College baseball team was swept by scores of 5-4 and 7-3 by Wartburg College in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Oskaloosa High School.

St. Olaf (4-6) held a 4-2 lead late in game one before Wartburg (9-3) scored twice in the eighth and walked it off in the bottom of the ninth to take the opener. The Knights plated five runs in the first two innings to get out to an early lead in game two and held the Oles scoreless after the fourth to complete the sweep.

After the final game of the three-game series set for Sunday was canceled due to inclement weather, St. Olaf will head to Florida for six games at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational from March 19-23.

Wartburg 5, St. Olaf 4 | Box Score

Senior Kevin Steel turned in 5.0 innings of one-run ball to help St. Olaf to a 4-2 lead before Wartburg rallied late in game one. The Knights hit back-to-back solo home runs in the eighth to tie it and scored the game-winning run on an error on a bunt in the bottom of the ninth.

In his third consecutive no-decision to start the season, Steel limited the Knights to one run on three hits with two walks and a season-high eight strikeouts over the first 5.0 innings. Junior Sam Hruska yielded one run over the next 2.0 innings with a pair of strikeouts.

Seniors Breckin Hadley and Mason Buck accounted for half of the Oles' eight hits with two hits apiece. Hadley was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI, while Buck had a triple in his 2-for-4 performance.

St. Olaf got on the board first in the top of the second when senior Frank Lavin led off with a double and came around to score on a double by junior Cole Pleimann. Wartburg got the run back in the next half inning, however, to tie the game at 1-1.

The Oles responded with two runs in the top of the third as Hadley knocked in first years Dex Pudduck and Joey King with a single after coming to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. St. Olaf maintained the 3-1 lead until the Knights halved their deficit with a run in the sixth, but the Oles got the run back in the top of the seventh to reclaim a two-run lead.

Wartburg hit back-to-back solo home runs on consecutive pitches with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at 4-4. After St. Olaf was unable to move around a leadoff base runner in the top of the ninth, the Knights got a single, a passed ball, and an error on a bunt to score the game-winning run.

Wartburg 7, St. Olaf 3 | Box Score

Wartburg scored three runs in the first and two more in the second to get out to a 5-1 lead and got a 15-up, 15-down relief appearance from Kam Volz to make the lead stand up. Volz and Nicholas Nin combined to hold the Oles to three hits in the win.

Senior Henry Black had two of St. Olaf's three hits, going 2-for-4 with two doubles, a run scored, and two RBI. Junior Kanen Kreafle had the other hit with an RBI double, while Pleimann scored twice.

After Wartburg hit a three-run home run in the first, Pleimann drew a leadoff walk to start the second and scored on Black's double. The Knights plated two runs in the second and held a 5-1 lead until Back and Kreafle hit back-to-back run-scoring doubles in the fourth to make it a 5-3 game.

Wartburg added runs in the fourth and sixth innings to push its lead to 7-3 and Volz took care of the rest.