NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The third-seeded St. Olaf College softball began the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs with a 9-0, six-inning win over crosstown-rival and sixth-seeded Carleton College on Thursday afternoon at Mabel Shirley Field.
In the first-ever postseason meeting between the two Northfield rivals, St. Olaf (25-14) improved to 3-0 this season against Carleton (24-17), which was in the MIAC Playoffs for just the third time, with the 9-0 victory. Junior
Eva Hokanson knocked in five runs, including a game-ending three-run home run, while senior
Roxanne Ring tossed a four-hit shutout for the Oles.
With the win, St. Olaf advanced to a semifinal date with second-seeded Saint Mary's University at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 9 at the College of Saint Benedict. That game will follow the first semifinal between the top-seeded Bennies and fifth-seeded St. Catherine University, which knocked off fourth-seeded Gustavus Adolphus College on the road, 8-5, in the other quarterfinal on Thursday.
The victory was the 13th in a row for St. Olaf, which is tied for the longest in program history with another string of 13 consecutive wins from April 2-23, 1992. The Oles have won 17 of the last 18 games against the Knights since game two in 2017 and have won at least one game in the MIAC Playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons.
Six days after giving up five runs in a complete-game win at Carleton, Ring held the Knights to four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts in her 15th complete game of the season. The senior improved to 17-6 on the season with the win, with the 17 wins ranking tied for fifth in single-season program annals. Ring also became the eight Ole pitcher to record 100 strikeouts in a season with the eight-strikeout performance.
After being limited to two runs by Sydney Trentman over seven innings on Friday, St. Olaf jumped on the Carleton starter for five runs (four earned) over the first 2.1 innings. Eight of the nine starters in the Oles' lineup had a hit, led by Hokanson, who was 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, two runs scored, and five RBI. The five-RBI performance made Hokanson the second Ole to drive in 40+ runs in a season as her 40 RBI trail only the school-record 51 set by Hannah Matthies '21 in 2021.
Senior
Belle Schmidt was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, two runs scored, and two RBI, while junior
Kyra Narum had two hits and scored twice. Junior
Regan Zak moved into a tie for second in program history with her 53rd hit of the season, extended her single-season stolen bases record to 26 with two more, and scored her 41st run of the season to move to within one of the all-time record.
St. Olaf jumped on Trentman for three first-inning runs by stringing together four consecutive one-out hits. With runners on second and third and one out, Hokanson doubled in Schmidt and first year
Hannah Yaeger to open the scoring. Senior
Elle Brandt plated another run with a two-out single later in the frame.
Schmidt added to the Oles' lead with a two-out RBI single in the second before Ring doubled in another run in the next inning. Ring had a no-hitter through four innings before the Knights started the fifth with a single and a double to put two runners in scoring position in a 5-0 game. Ring escaped the inning unscathed, however, by getting a comebacker to leave the bases full of Knights.
Ring left two more Carleton runners on in the sixth before St. Olaf ended the game an inning early with three runs in the home half. Narum and Zak started the inning with singles before Zak stole second to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Schmidt brought in a run and reached base on a dropped throw by the first baseman that made it 6-0. Two batters later, Hokanson blasted a three-run home run to left to account for the 9-0 margin.
