NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College softball team split a pair of nailbiters with their crosstown rival, St. Olaf College. The Knights dropped the opener, 10-9, but bounced back to take game two by a 9-8 scoreline.
Game 1 Recap
St. Olaf 10, Carleton 9
In a back-and-forth game, it was St. Olaf (15-17, 9-5 MIAC) that had the last laugh. The Oles trailed 3-0, 4-1, 7-4, and 9-7 before scoring three runs in the top of the sixth inning.
Carleton (12-16, 3-9 MIAC) started out strong, scoring three runs in the bottom of the second inning.
Amy Chen (Jr./Kirkland, Wash./Lake Washington) singled before
Cassie Cunniff (Sr./Mt. Prospect, Ill./Prospect) walked.
Bryanna Schaffer (So./San Diego, Calif./Mar Vista) drove both home with a 2-run triple then came in to score a run of her won via
Adriana Wiggins' (Fy./Long Beach, Calif./Wilson) RBI single to left field.
The Oles responded with a run in the top of the third before Carleton got that tally back thanks to Cunniff's RBI double in the bottom of the inning.
St. Olaf tied the game at 4-4 by plating three runs in the top of the fourth inning, but Carleton immediately responded in the bottom of the frame.
Grace Colburn (Fy./Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge) notched an RBI single and Chen added a two-run hit.
Once again, the Oles punched back, plating another three runs in the top of the fifth frame, knottingthe score at 7-7. However, the momentum swung back in favor of the Knights as Cunnif hit a RBI triple, and Schaffer followed with a sacrifice fly that gave the hosts a 9-7 lead.
Unfortunately for the Knights, the visitors once again scored three in the top of the next stanza, and this time the Knights could not register a response, falling by a final score of 10-9.
Chen and
Laurie Avila (Sr./Sugar Grove, Ill./Oswego) had three hits apiece to pace the Knights. Wiggins and Cunnif both had two hits and a walk. Schaffer collected a team-best three RBI.
Game 2 Recap
Carleton 9, St. Olaf 8
On the back of a huge seven-run fifth inning, the Knights were able to hold on and take the second game of the doubleheader.
After St. Olaf scored two runs in the top of the second, the Knights responded with
Emma Kartheiser's (Sr./Oronoco, Minn./Century) RBI single in the home half of the inning. A Wiggins' run-scoring grounder in the third inning, tied the game at 2-2.
The Oles went on to score twice in the top of the sixth inning, but then the Knights broke loose. With the bases load and none out, Schaffer delivered a two-run single. Two batters later, Avila hit a sacrifice fly to left field but the Ole defender could not make the catch, allowing two runs to score.
Colburn singled and Chen walked to re-load the bases for Kartheiser to clear the bases with a clutch double.
St. Olaf responded in the top of the sixth with a three-run homer by Tarah DeCroock and a sacrifice fly that brought the visitors within 9-8.
Faith Hanshaw (Sr./The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands Christian Academy) came out of the Carleton bullpen and tossed 2.0 innings to earn her first save of the season.
Hala Soliman (Sr./Harrisburg, N.C./Lake Norman Charter) earned the win for the Knights, improving to 6-4 after pitching the first 5.0 innings.
Kartheiser finished 2-for-2 with a walk and four RBI. Colburn was the other Knight with a multi-hit game.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton travels to Duluth, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday at the College of St. Scholastica. The Knights then return to Ele Hansen Field to host Macalester College for a Senior Day twinbill beginning at 1 :00 p.m. on Saturday, April 29
