NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Senior Sam Westermeyer threw a complete game to pitch the St. Olaf College baseball team to a 5-1 victory over conference-leading Bethel University before the Royals took game two by an 11-1 margin on Tuesday afternoon at Mark Almli Field.

Facing a team hitting over .340 as a team coming in, Westermeyer held Bethel (28-8, 14-4 MIAC) to just six hits and one run and first year Evan Hammonds drove in two runs with a pair of singles to help St. Olaf (15-15, 9-9 MIAC) win the opener. The Royals bounced back in game two, breaking open a 2-0 game with multi-run innings in the fifth, sixth, and seventh.

The split keeps St. Olaf in a tie for the fourth and final spot in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs. St. Scholastica also has a 9-9 mark in conference play after sweeping the Oles on Monday and earning a split at Gustavus on Tuesday, while Saint Mary's (8-8) and Concordia-Moorhead (6-6) are also .500 in conference play with more games remaining.

St. Olaf closes out its regular-season MIAC schedule by hosting Gustavus for Senior Day on Saturday, May 7. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Mark Almli Field.

St. Olaf 5, Bethel 1 | Box Score

Westermeyer limited Bethel to one run in six hits with two walks and seven strikeouts to pick up his fourth victory of the season. The complete game was the senior's second of the season and the seventh of his career.

Offensively, Hammonds provided a pair of RBI singles for the Oles, who led 2-1 before tacking on three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. First year Matthew Kulesa added a two-run double in the sixth.

St. Olaf handed Bethel starter Max Sutter just his second loss of the season, as the right-hander entered the game 6-1 this season with a 1.71 ERA. Sutter yielded just two earned runs (five runs) on nine hits in the complete game, striking out three without a walk.

The Oles opened the scoring in the bottom of the third with a two-out rally. After fifth-year senior Matthew Muller reached on a bunt single and advanced to second on a wild pitch, senior Andrew Nomoto drove him in with a single down the left-field line for the first run of the game

The Royals answered in the next half inning on a two-out RBI single by Marcus Krupke only for St. Olaf to reclaim the lead in the bottom of the fourth. After sophomore Joey Glampe led off the inning with a double, he was still at second when Hammonds drove a single up the middle to bring in Glampe.

The score remained 2-1 until the Oles added three runs in the bottom of the sixth to give Westermeyer a four-run cushion. With two on and two outs, Hammonds delivered his second RBI single of the game to make it 3-1 and Kulesa followed with a double to left to drive in two more runs.

Bethel 11, St. Olaf 1 (8 inn.) | Box Score

Bethel got at least one hit from each of the nine spots in its lineup and scored in six of its eight innings at the plate to record the run-rule victory in game two. The Royals led just 2-0 through four innings before scoring eight times over the next three frames to break the game open.

Sophomore Brian Nevin drove in St. Olaf's lone run of the game with a seventh-inning single. Kulesa and Hammonds had two hits apiece, but Krupke held the Oles to one run on six hits over 7.1 innings for the Royals.

First year Jacob Fickenscher allowed just one earned run (four runs) on eight hits over the first five innings for St. Olaf and did not walk a batter with three strikeouts. Bethel scored seven runs off of two Ole relievers over the final three innings.

Three of Bethel's first four runs were unearned, as the visitors capitalized on three St. Olaf errors to help build a 4-0 lead through five innings. The Royals added two runs in the sixth and four in the seventh to take a 10-0 advantage.

Needing a run to keep the game going, the Oles got on the board on a two-out RBI single to center by Nevin to bring in Glampe, who drew a two-out walk and stole second. Bethel responded with a two-out RBI hit of its own in the top of the eighth and kept St. Olaf scoreless in the bottom of the inning to salvage a split.