NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team picked up a pair of run-rule victories over Hamline University, sweeping the Pipers by scores of 11-3 and 12-4 in two six-inning games on Saturday afternoon at Mabel Shirley Field.
St. Olaf (17-14, 10-5 MIAC) hit .482 (27-for-56) as a team while scoring 23 runs on 27 hits to sweep Hamline (4-25, 1-12 MIAC) for the sixth consecutive season. The sweep was the third Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) sweep in a row for the Oles.
The sweep came on Senior Day as St. Olaf celebrated its senior class of
Belle Schmidt,
Madyn Singleton,
Abby Nevin,
Elle Brandt, and
Roxanne Ring between games.
The Oles will be back at home for their final regular-season doubleheader against the College of St. Scholastica starting at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 26.
St. Olaf 11, Hamline 3 (6 inn.) | Box Score
Nevin and junior
Eva Hokanson combined to go 5-for-8 and drove in four runs apiece, as St. Olaf broke open a 2-0 game with a five-run fourth and ended the game an inning early with another four-run frame in the sixth.
Ring ran her record to 12-6 on the season with 5.1 innings of two-hit ball, walking one and striking out five. The senior worked the first 5.0 innings before re-entering to get the final out of the top of the sixth.
Hokanson went 3-for-4 with two doubles, one run scored, and four RBI, while Nevin was 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI. Junior
Regan Zak was 3-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs scored, and one RBI, while Schmidt was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and one driven in.
Hokanson got the scoring with an RBI double to center with one out in the first to score Zak, who singled, stole second, and got to third on a passed ball. The Oles strung together three consecutive two-out hits in the second to add another run, with Schmidt plating junior
Rylan Nakamura with a single to left.
St. Olaf added five more runs to its lead in the fourth, with Zak and Hokanson singling in runs before Nevin capped the inning with a two-run single. Hamline got on the board with three runs in the top of the sixth, but the Oles responded with four runs in the next half inning to invoke the run rule.
After singles by Schmidt and first year
Hannah Yaeger, Hokanson lined a two-run double to the gap in right center to score both runners. Two batters later, Nevin hit her first home run of the season to left center to account for the eight-run margin.
St. Olaf 12, Hamline 4 (6 inn.) | Box Score
Hamline led 2-1 in the third before St. Olaf seven unanswered runs to take an 8-2 lead. The Pipers got the next two runs to close to within four, but the Oles again ended the game an inning early with a four-run sixth.
Hokanson completed a 6-for-7 day at the plate by going 3-for-3 with one run scored and two RBI, while Zak and Nevin added two hits apiece. Nevin knocked in three more runs to give her seven RBI on the day, while Brandt added a home run and three RBI.
Singleton improved to 4-5 on the season after allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts over 6.0 innings before first year
Amelia Burns got the final three outs.
Hamline got a run in the top of the first but left two runners on. St. Olaf got the run back in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Hokanson. The teams also traded runs in the third, with Brandt's sacrifice fly tying the game at 2-2.
The Oles broke the tie with six runs on four hits in the bottom of the fourth. After a one-out walk and single, Nevin doubled in Nakamura and Zak for the first runs of the inning. Later, Hokanson brought in a run with a single before an error allowed another run to score and extended the inning for junior
Jill Arp, who doubled in two more.
After Hamline cut its deficit to 8-4 in the fifth, St. Olaf got four more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Hokanson started the inning with her sixth hit of the day before Brandt hit her team-leading seventh home run of the season to make it a 10-4 game. Later in the frame, Schmidt doubled in a run three batters before Nevin singled to deep right with the bases loaded and one out to end the game.
