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Two Tough Losses for Ole Fastpitch

Jason Welle
April 24, 2001

The St. Olaf College women?s fastpitch team lost two tough games today to the College of St. Benedict. The Blazers won the first game 3-1, scoring two runs in the top of the sixth to down the Oles. The second game went ten innings before the Oles fell by a 4-3 score.

Though both teams hit well in the first game, neither could muster any runs through the first three innings. St. Olaf stranded two runners in the first inning and St. Ben?s left two on base in both the second and the third innings. The Blazers picked up a run in the top of the fourth, but the Oles immediately answered when a double by senior Amanda Ista (Northfield, Minn.) brought home junior Carrie Cooley (Villard, Minn.) in their half of the inning to tie the game at one. It remained tied until the sixth inning when Ellie Jelsing scored her second run of the game for the Blazers, driven home by a Nancy Budzien single. Budzien later scored the game?s final run, yielding a 3-1 victory for St. Ben?s. Grete Christenson (Jr., Springfield, Va.) went the distance for St. Olaf.

St. Olaf opened the scoring in the second game when senior Christina Moses (New Brighton, Minn.) hit an RBI single to drive home senior Sarah Cherry (Faribault, Minn.). St. Ben?s tied it up in the fourth, but the Oles bounced right back with a two-run fifth inning. Sophomore Molly Robinson (Northfield, Minn.) and Ista both turned their singles into runs, but the Oles ended up leaving the bases loaded in an inning where they brought eight batters to the plate. St. Ben?s knotted the game again in the sixth inning, scoring two and forcing extra play. The Blazers managed one run in the top of the tenth that St. Olaf was unable to answer, winning the game 4-3. First-year Melissa Ohm (Rochester, Minn.) pitched into the sixth inning before Christenson relieved her to close the game.

The loss drops the Oles to 1-9 in the MIAC, 5-15 overall. St. Ben?s moves to 10-2 in league play, 12-4 overall. St. Olaf will see action again on Thursday when the Hamline University Pipers travel to Northfield for a 4 p.m. doubleheader. The Blazers will host Macalester College on Thursday, also in a 4 p.m. contest.

Contact Pat Buresh at 507-786-3315 or buresh@stolaf.edu.