DAVENPORT, Fla. – The St. Olaf College baseball team rallied from a 9-3 deficit to get within a run in the ninth but left the game-tying and game-winning runs aboard in a 9-8 loss to UW-Eau Claire on Friday at Northeast Regional Park.

After trailing 3-2 through six innings, UW-Eau Claire (6-3) scored seven runs in the top of the seventh to take a 9-3 lead. St. Olaf (4-8) chipped away at its deficit with two runs in each of the seventh and eighth innings to get within a run. In the ninth, the Oles got within a run on a two-out RBI single by senior Breckin Hadley before leaving runners on first and second following a fly out to end the game.

Senior Frank Lavin helped lead the late rally with a solo home run and a two-run double to finish 2-for-4 with a run scored and three RBI. Senior Mason Buck was 2-for-5 with a stolen base, two runs scored, and one RBI, while junior Cole Pleimann also had a pair of hits.

Fifth-year senior Ian Enyeart limited UW-Eau Claire to two runs (one earned) on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts over the first 4.0 innings. First year Brady Stutz tossed scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth before the Blugolds got to the Ole bullpen in the seventh. After UW-Eau Claire took the lead, sophomore Josiah Utsch shut the Bulgolds out over the final 2.2 innings.

After UW-Eau Claire scored a run in the top of the first, St. Olaf took a 3-1 lead with three runs in the bottom of the third. With two outs and a runner on third, Buck delivered a single to center to tie the game. Two batters later with Buck at second, senior Henry Black hit a sinking line drive to center that landed and got by the center fielder to allow Buck to score and Black to come all the way around.

UW-Eau Claire made it a 3-2 game with a run in the top of the fourth before exploding for seven runs on seven hits in the seventh. In the home half of the seventh, Lavin clubbed a solo home run to right for his second home run of the season. Later in the inning, an errant throw to first on a strikeout let pinch runner Neil Sevigny score to bring the Oles within four at 9-5.

Lavin brought St. Olaf closer in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run double to right center that scored Pleimann and senior Christopher Woodside. Down by two in the ninth, Buck and Pleimann got on with singles before Hadley singled through the right side to plate Buck to make it a one-run game, but UW-Eau Claire's Ben Dorantes got a fly ball to right to end the game.

St. Olaf will play a doubleheader against Colby College starting at 1:15 p.m. CDT on Saturday, March 21. The Mules received votes in both the D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) national polls.