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Ole Fastpitch Loses, Ties against Pipers

Jason Welle
April 27, 2001

The St. Olaf College women?s fastpitch team picked up a loss and a tie in a home doubleheader against the Hamline University Pipers. The Oles lost the first game in an 11-7 slugfest. The second game returned to a trend as fans saw their third extra inning game in as many doubleheaders at Mabel Shirley field and darkness forced an end to a 4-4 ballgame after nine innings.

Hamline didn?t waste any time jumping out to an early lead in the first game, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning on four hits. The Oles got one back in the bottom of the first when senior Christy Boraas (Madison, Minn.) turned on the first pitch she saw and homered to left field, bringing the score to 3-1. The Oles committed two errors in the top of the second as the Pipers scored four more runs to open up a 7-1 lead. Lively Ole bats wouldn?t quit, as sophomore Meredith Larsen (Mason City, Iowa) and junior Carrie Cooley (Villard, Minn.) both reached home in a three-hit second inning. The bottom of the third brought more of the same when the Oles picked up three more hits and three more runs, cutting Hamline?s lead to 7-6. St. Olaf finally tied the game in the fifth inning. Sophomore Kirsten Haaland (Billings, Mt.) hit a leadoff single and used some nice baserunning to make her way around the diamond and even the score. It didn?t stay tied for long as the Pipers broke through with a four-run sixth inning to yield the game?s 11-7 final score. St. Olaf managed only one hit in each of its last two innings and did not threaten the lead again. Junior Grete Christianson (Springfield, Va.) pitched a complete game loss for the Oles.

Hamline opened the scoring again in the second game when Northfield native Emily Deuth turned a leadoff walk into the game?s first run. Deuth scored the game?s second run as well, when she led off the top of the third inning with a single and worked her way around the bases for a 2-0 Hamline advantage. The Pipers picked up one more run in the top of the fourth before the Ole bats got hot. After only managing one baserunner in the first three innings, St. Olaf brought nine batters to the plate in a four-run fourth inning. Senior Sarah Cherry (Faribault, Minn.), Boraas, senior Christina Moses (New Brighton, Minn.), and Larsen all scored to give the Oles a 4-3 lead. Hamline scored one more in the top of the sixth to knot the game at four, a tie that would not be broken. The Oles loaded up the bases with two outs in the seventh, but couldn?t score, and they stranded a runner at third in both the eighth and ninth innings before officials called the game because of darkness. First-year Melissa Ohm (Rochester, Minn.) pitched the entire game for the Oles.

The Oles move to 5-16-1 overall, 1-10-1 in the MIAC. Hamline stands at 4-11-1 in league play, 8-19-1 overall. The Oles will travel to Macalester College on Saturday while Hamline will play at the College of St. Catherine. Both games start at 1:00 p.m.

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