NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College softball team continued its late-season surge and secured its first trip to the MIAC Playoffs since 2018 with a Senior Day sweep of the College of St. Scholastica. The Knights eased to an 11-0 (5 inn.) victory in the opener and used a clutch hit from
Livi Peters late in game two to punch their ticket to the postseason with a 7-6 win.
The Knights (22-16, 12-10 MIAC) began the MIAC slate season 0-8 but won 12 of their last 14 conference games to earn a postseason berth. With 22 victories overall, Carleton has posted its second-highest win total in program history (see chart below).
The Knights started the day tied for seventh in the standings but were essentially eighth due to tiebreakers. The sweep and results around the league moved Carleton into a four-way tie for fifth place, with the Knights claiming the final playoff spot thanks to sweeps of both Bethel and Macalester, the two teams left on the outside when the playoff field was determined.
Head Coach
Amy Erickson, who has been at the helm for each of the Knights softball program's playoff appearances, said after the game that "This team has made [the playoffs] a goal since the beginning, and they fought every day to get better. This team is gritty, they're going to fight tooth and nail to the end, and today they got it done"
Prior to the day's action, the Knights recognized the six seniors on the roster:
Grace Colburn,
Abby Gooch,
Natasha Paez, Peters,
Esme Song, and
Adriana Wiggins.
Game 1 Recap – Carleton 11, St. Scholastica 0 (5 inn.)
After a quiet first inning,
Emily Vogel started the day's scoring with a line-drive double to left field that plated a run. Paez slugged a home run to left field two batters later to give the Knights a 3-0 lead. Carleton added onto its advantage in the third.
Megan Smith,
Samantha Rodriguez, and
Gloria Hronek singled to load the bases, and Vogel knocked in a pair with a bloop single to right. Hronek came around on a deep sacrifice fly by
Jade Thach, giving Carleton a 6-0 lead.
St. Scholastica (7-32, 1-20 MIAC) changed pitchers to no avail, with a hit-by-pitch and two errors loading the bases for Carleton in the fourth with no outs. Rodriguez singled in one run, Wiggins drove in another with a sacrifice fly, Hronek punched in another run with a single, and pinch-hitter Peters slammed a two-run double into the left-center gap to put the hosts up 11-0.
Rachel Block put two runners on in the fifth, but struck out a pinch hitter looking to conclude a short-game shutout. She twirled 5.0 shutout innings in the circle, scattering three hits, walking none, and fanning four.
Vogel doubled and singled, scoring a run and driving in three. Hronek was 3-for-3 while scoring three runs and driving home another. Rodriguez had two hits, score twice, and was one of the seven Knights with an RBI in the contest.
Game 2 Recap – Carleton 7, St. Scholastica 6
Carleton righthander
Sydney Trentman and Scholastica hurler Aleah Shogren traded zeroes through the top of the third, with Carleton finally getting on the board when Song, Rodriguez, and Wiggins singled to load the bases before Hronek blistered a single to left that scored Song. The Knights added two in the fourth, with Smith knocking a two-out RBI double to left-center, and Wiggins pushing Smith across with a hit.
St. Scholastica scored its first run of the day when Katelyn Hackman cranked a home run to lead off the fifth.
The other games around the league had already concluded, Carleton just needed a win to move on to the postseason.
The Saints finally chased Trentman in the sixth with back-to-back singles to start the inning. Scholastica cashed in on those hits when Hackman delivered a bases-loaded knock that scored two and later scored herself on a Madi Glienke two-run hit. The four-run sixth put the visitors up 5-3.
If the result held, the Knights would slip out of the playoff picture, but Carleton would not trail for long.
Rodriguez and Wiggins singled with one out in the bottom of the sixth, and the scorching-hot Hronek doubled to the left-field wall to drive in one run. A groundout brought Peters to the plate with two outs. The senior utility player scalded a single over the second-base bag to score both baserunners and give Carleton a 6-5 lead.
Just like that, Carleton was back in playoff position.
Block, into the game as a relief pitcher, looped a single into center to drive in what would prove to be a crucial insurance run.
The Saints loaded the bases via an error, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch in the seventh. Block hit another batter to force in a run, sending the tying run to third base. With the bases loaded and one out, Block induced a soft flyout to Song in right field. Then, with the playoffs on the line, the righty fired a three-pitch strikeout to spark celebrations for the Knights.
Trentman delivered 5.0 innings of four-hit ball, allowing three earned runs while punching out three. Block pitched the final 2.0 innings and got the win, allowing two earned. She improved to 8-1 over her last nine appearances, and 10-7 on the season.
Wiggins posted a 4-for-4 game two, driving in one and scoring the game-tying run in the sixth. Rodriguez went 2-for-3 for the second game in a row, extending her hit streak to 15 games. She finished the double-header 4-for-6, scoring three times. Hronek collected three more hits and finished the day going 6-for-7 across the two games with five singles and a double. The rookie scored four times and drove in three.
Up Next for the Knights
Before focusing on the postseason, Carleton will visit University of Wisconsin-River Falls for a non-conference twin bill on Monday, May 4. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
Most Wins in Carleton Softball History
24 -- 2019 (24-15, 10-12 MIAC)
22 -- 2026 (22-16, 12-10 MIAC)
21 -- 2000 (21-13, 12-10 MIAC)
20 -- 2002 (20-16. 12-10 MIAC)
