DAVENPORT, Fla. – The St. Olaf College baseball team dropped both games of its twin bill against Colby College on Saturday, falling by scores of 16-7 and 4-3 in a pair of seven-inning contests at Northeast Regional Park.

Colby (9-3) broke open a 10-7 game with six runs in the seventh inning to take the opener. St. Olaf (4-10) held a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning of game two before the Mules rallied with single runs in the sixth and seventh to complete the sweep in walk-off fashion. Colby received votes in both the D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) national polls this week.

The Oles will try to end their seven-game skid in a 10 a.m. CDT start against Union College (N.Y) on Sunday, March 22 at Chain of Lakes Park.

Colby 16, St. Olaf 7 | Box Score

After trailing 7-1 early, St. Olaf narrowed its deficit to 7-5 in the third and was down just three in the sixth before Colby broke the game open with a six-run top of the seventh. The Mules scored in six of their seven innings at the plate while racking up 18 hits and drawing nine walks in the opener.

Senior Mason Buck led the way offensively for St. Olaf by going 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and two RBI. First year Dex Pudduck was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored as he and Buck combined for five of the Oles' nine hits out of the top-two spots in the lineup.

Colby opened up a 5-0 lead after an inning and a half before first year Joey King got St. Olaf on the board with a two-out, run-scoring single in the bottom of the second for his first collegiate hit. After the Mules extended their lead to 7-1 in the third of the third, the Oles responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning, with junior Kanen Kreafle delivering the big blow of the inning with a two-out, two-run double to the gap in right center.

An RBI double by Buck in the bottom of the sixth brought St. Olaf within three at 10-7 before the Mules tallied six runs on five hits and three walks in the top of the seventh to open up a nine-run cushion. The top-four hitters in the Colby lineup combined to go 11-for-18 with four walks, 10 runs scored, and nine RBI in the win.

Colby 4, St. Olaf 3 | Box Score

St. Olaf outhit Colby by a 9-8 margin and held a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning, but the Mules got a clutch two-out hit to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth before walking it off on a bases-loaded wild pitch in the seventh.

Senior Frank Lavin, junior Cole Pleimann, and Kreafle picked up two hits apiece for the Oles, while Pudduck, Buck, and senior Henry Black each had one. Juniors Sam Hruska and Jack Nord held Colby to four runs, just one of which was earned, before the Mules won it late.

Hruska allowed one run over the first 2.2 innings before Nord worked the final 3.2 innings in the longest outing of his career. All three runs Nord surrendered were unearned as the right-hander struck out four in the 3.2 innings of work.

King again got the scoring started for St. Olaf, this time with a sacrifice fly to right in the top of the second after singles by Lavin and Kreafle put runners on the corners with one out. The Mules evened the score at 1-1 on a solo home run by Tony Silva, who finished a triple shy of the cycle, in the home half of the third.

After Silva gave Colby a 2-1 lead with a two-out single in the fourth, St. Olaf got four hits in the span of five batters in the top of the fifth to take a 3-2 lead. Pudduck reached on a one-out single, stole second, and scored on an opposite-field single by Black. After a single by Lavin put two on with two outs, Pleimann dropped a single into shallow right field to score Black and give the Oles the lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Mules got a two-out RBI single from Will Burns to tie it at 3-3. The Oles threatened to go back ahead in the top of the seventh, but a double play ended the threat after two hit batters put two aboard with one out.

Colby proceeded to complete the sweep with an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh, as a wild pitch plated the winning run after the Mules loaded the bases with one out.