ROCHESTER, Minn. – With a flair for the dramatic, the Carleton College softball team picked up a pair of extra-inning victories on Saturday. The Knights started the day by topping Luther College 4-3 in 8 innings. That was just an appetizer, however, as Carleton (4-2) would go on to beat the University of Wisconsin-Stout 8-6 in 14 innings, the longest game in recorded team history.
The pair of dramatic victories also marked wins No. 350 and No. 351 in the career of Carleton head coach
Amy Erickson.
"What an incredible set of games today!" said Erickson. "I could not be prouder of this squad. This is a team that is showing how to battle and play through every game.
"While I won't remember every win, No. 350 and 351 will be ones that will stick for sure."
The nightcap proved to be the longest game by a MIAC squad since the 2022 NCAA Playoffs, and it tied for the sixth-longest game in NCAA Division III softball over the last four seasons.
Adriana Wiggins had six hits and four RBI on the day,
Megan Smith had four hits and a
game-saving defensive play, and
Sydney Trentman pitched all 14.0 innings to win game two.
Game 1 Recap
The contest was scoreless until the top of the fifth inning when Luther (0-1) plated two runs, , the first coming across on an RBI grounder with the second via on a wild pitch.
Carleton got those runs back in the bottom of the frame when
Emily Vogel belted her second home run of the year and Smith added a two-out RBI double to knot the score at 2-2.
After both teams threatened in the sixth inning but came up empty, Raven Allen started the top of the seventh with a home run to put Luther back in front, 3-2. The home half of the frame saw
Gloria Hronek walked and eventually scored on another two-out hit by Smith, sending the game to extra innings.
Carleton reliever
Becca Madsen escaped a first-and-third, none out jam in the top of the eighth, and the Knights capitalized on the momentum when Wiggins' third hit of the game drove home
Esme Song with the game-winning run in the bottom of the inning.
Rachel Block got the starting nod and worked 5.0 innings of two-run ball. Madsen surrendered one run over her 3.0 frames in the circle and picked up her fourth career victory.
Game 2 Recap
Carleton was looking for revenge after dropping a 9-inning game to UW-Stout two weeks earlier. The Knights finally got there, but it took longer than anyone expected.
"I'm still wrapping my mind around game two," Erickson said. "I think it entailed just about every type of play you could imagine: a pitchers' duel, diving stops to save runs, squeeze bunts, stolen bases, home runs, and throwing out the potential winning run in extra innings."
The Knights opened the scoring with a run in the top of the third inning, but the Blue Devils (3-3) plated an unearned tally in the fourth to level the score.
Trentman (3-0) kept trading zeroes on the scoreboard with UW-Stout reliever Sarah Wilkins and the contest was still tied 1-1 after seven full frames.
Wiggins singled home
Samantha Rodriguez in the top of the eighth, but the advantage was short lived as Wilkins helped her own cause with a game-tying single in the bottom of the stanza.
Trentman and Wilkins exchanged zeroes on the scoreboard in both the ninth and 10th innings.
Another Wiggins RBI single gave Carleton a 3-2 lead in the 11th, but Blue Devils tied the game with an RBI fielder's choice.
The 12th inning saw
Cora zumBrunnen single home Hronek with the go-ahead run. UW-Stout knotted things up with an RBI single off the bat of Payton Dolecki. After a groundout moved the runner into scoring position, Donan D'Addabbo singled to center field. Dolecki raced around third and head for home, but Smith uncorked a one-hop laser to the plate and zumBrunnen applied the tag for the third out, sending the game to the 13th inning and matching the longest game (up to this point) in program history (see chart below).
In the top of the 13th, Wiggins came up clutch yet again by delivering her third extra-inning RBI base hit of the game, and the Knights moved back in front, 5-4. Not to be out-done, the Blue Devils got a game-tying single from Stephanie Kuhn, and the teams played on.
Hronek was positioned on second base to begin the 14th inning, and
Grace Colburn singled to put runners on the corners. One out later,
Jade Thach hit a bomb to straightaway centerfield, propelling Carleton to an 8-5 advantage. It was her second career long ball.
Entering the day, Trentman's career high for innings pitched was 8.0 at Occidental on March 27, 2025. She headed back to the rubber to work the 14th inning. While UW-Stout got one run home, Trentman fielded a comebacker to finally end the three-and a half-hour marathon.
Current Carleton assistant coach
Sam Kile '19 pitched 10.1 innings against Gustavus in the 2017 season finale. At the time, that was the longest outing by a Carleton pitcher since at least 2001, but Trentman blew passed that mark. In fact, this was the second-longest outing by a MIAC pitcher over the last 10 seasons (see chart below).
Trentman did not surrender an earned run as she struck out eight and gave up nine hits (all singles) and four walks.
"What a gritty and gutsy performance by Sydney," noted Erickson. "Throwing 14 innings this early in a season is tough, and despite facing winning runs at third base over and over she kept bearing down and going for it."
Song and Wiggins both had three hits to pace the Knights, Smith added a two-hit effort.
"The 'never say die' attitude Knights Softball brought today was just so fun to coach," said Erickson. "These six games that we played the last couple weeks are just the start and have shown how we can battle in every scenario. That will serve us well as we head into our Spring Break trip and the tough MIAC conference where every game is a battle to the last pitch."
Longest Games in Recorded Carleton Softball History
| Inn. |
Opponent (Result) |
Date |
| 14 |
UW-Stout (W, 8-6) |
2/28/2026 |
| 13 |
vs. Macalester (W, 1-0) |
5/3/1983 |
| 11 |
at Gustavus (L, 7-8) |
4/29/2017 |
| 10 |
vs. Gustavus (L, 1-3) |
4/13/2001 |
| 10 |
at Hamline (L, 5-6) |
5/2/2001 |
| 10 |
at St. Thomas (L, 2-3) |
4/17/2002 |
| 10 |
at Bethel (W, 6-5) |
4/22/2003 |
| 10 |
vs. St. Olaf (W, 3-2) |
4/8/2006 |
| 10 |
vs. Macalester (W, 7-6) |
4/2/2015 |
Most Innings by MIAC pitcher (single game) since 2016 [data from NCAA.org]
| IP |
Player |
Team |
Opponent |
Date |
| 15.0 |
Kayla Simacek |
Bethel |
vs. WashU |
5/15/2022 |
| 14.0 |
Sydney Trentman |
Carleton |
vs. UW-Stout |
2/28/2026 |
| 12.1 |
Krista Flugstad |
St. Catherine |
vs. UW-River Falls |
3/29/2016 |
| 11.0 |
Morgan Bean |
Macalester |
vs. St. Olaf |
4/28/2017 |
| 11.0 |
Krista Flugstad |
St. Catherine |
vs. Bethel |
4/12/2018 |
| 11.0 |
Hannah Schmidt |
Bethel |
vs. St. Catherine |
4/12/2018 |
| 11.0 |
Kierstin Anderson-Glass |
St. Thomas |
vs. Hamline |
5/5/2019 |
| 11.0 |
Kierstin Anderson-Glass |
St. Thomas |
vs. Saint Benedict |
5/1/2021 |
| 11.0 |
Megan Gavin |
Concordia |
vs. Gustavus |
4/21/2022 |
| 11.0 |
Piper Otto |
Gustavus |
vs. Concordia |
4/21/2022 |
| 11.0 |
Ellie Peterson |
Saint Benedict |
vs. Central |
3/30/2024 |
| 10.1 |
Julie Graf |
St. Olaf |
vs. Macalester |
4/28/2017 |
| 10.1 |
Sam Kile |
Carleton |
vs. Gustavus |
4/29/2017 |
| 10.1 |
Alex Molloy |
Hamline |
vs. St. Thomas |
5/5/2019 |
| 10.0 |
Kierstin Anderson-Glass |
St. Thomas |
vs. Bethel |
4/30/2016 |
| 10.0 |
Kierstin Anderson-Glass |
St. Thomas |
vs. Hamline |
5/6/2016 |
| 10.0 |
Ally Hjort |
Saint Benedict |
vs. Gustavus |
4/4/2019 |
| 10.0 |
Kierstin Anderson-Glass |
St. Thomas |
vs. Williams |
5/24/2019 |
| 10.0 |
Kayla Simacek |
Bethel |
vs. Central |
5/17/2021 |
| 10.0 |
Haley Rosenthal |
St. Scholastica |
vs. UW-Stout |
2/26/2023 |
| 10.0 |
Dana Rosbacka |
Hamline |
vs. St. Catherine |
5/5/2023 |
