MANKATO, Minn. – The St. Olaf College baseball team piled up 30 runs and 34 hits on its way to sweeping Bethany Lutheran College by scores of 16-7 and 14-2 in non-conference play on Thursday afternoon at Franklin Rogers Park.
Senior Luke Dahl led the offensive explosion by going a combined 6-for-8 with a walk, two home runs, five runs and eight RBI over the two games for St. Olaf (19-10). The Oles got out to a quick 6-0 lead in the opener against Bethany Lutheran (16-15) and used a nine-run fourth to take control in the nightcap.
St. Olaf 16, Bethany Lutheran 7 (7 inn.) | Box Score
St. Olaf posted its highest-scoring game in over a year in the opener, using 15 hits, seven walks and four hit batters to put 16 runs on the board. Senior Luke Dahl posted his second two-homer game of the season, going 4-for-5 with four runs and a career-high six RBI.
Dahl's six RBI were the most in a game by a St. Olaf hitter since classmate Sam Stuckmayer drove in seven in game one of a doubleheader at Concordia College (Minn.) on Apr. 3, 2016. The 16 runs were the most for the Oles in over a year dating back to a 17-3 victory over Thomas College on Mar. 28, 2018.
Junior Sam Pressman got on base four times, going 2-for-3 with two walks, three runs and three RBI. Junior Ryan Torbenson and first year Andrew Nomoto each had a pair of hits and drove in two runs apiece.
After the first two batters were retired in the top of the first, nine-straight Oles reached base as St. Olaf sent 12 batters to the plate. Pressman had a two-run single in the inning, while Torbenson and Dahl also delivered run-scoring hits.
Down 6-0 quickly, the Vikings scored two in the first, one in the second and two in the third to close the gap to one, 6-5. St. Olaf extended its lead to 8-5 on the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Torbenson followed by Dahl's first home run of the game.
Bethany Lutheran scored a single run in the fourth to get back within two before a five-run fifth gave the Oles a 13-6 advantage. Three walks and a hit batter to start the inning brought in the first run and, after a strikeout, Dahl went deep for the second time with a grand slam.
St. Olaf added three more runs in the seventh, scoring all three runs with two outs. With runners on second and third and two away, Nomoto singled to third base to score Pressman and Dahl. The final run of the game scored on a throwing error on a ground ball off the bat of Matthew Muller with the bases loaded.
In his longest outing since his first year, senior Thomas Peterson picked up the victory with five innings of two-run relief and a career-high six strikeouts after Forrest Kobelt worked the first two-plus frames.
Nick Caldeen was 3-for-4 with three doubles, two runs and one RBI to lead the Vikings offensively. Grant Becher was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI, while Cody Ulfers was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.
St. Olaf 14, Bethany Lutheran 2 (7 inn.) | Box Score
Bethany Lutheran got out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning and held the slender advantage until St. Olaf's bats came alive in a nine-run fourth. Twelve Oles had at least one hit, 11 scored a run and nine had at least one RBI in the second game.
In the nine-run fourth, St. Olaf had nine-straight hits to start the inning, capped by a three-run home run by TJ Rogers. Stuckmayer also had a two-run triple, while Dahl, Sam Westermeyer, Cameron Gray and Travis McDonald had run-scoring hits.
Rogers' home run was second in four games after not homering in the first 53 games of his career. Westermeyer drove in his first collegiate run with an RBI single, while McDonald knocked in his first run of the season with a single.
Dahl tallied his eighth RBI of the twin bill with a two-out single in the sixth after Muller reached on a two-base error with one away. The Oles tacked on four runs in the seventh on a RBI double by sophomore Eli Tan, a run-scoring single by first year Rohan Silbaugh for his first collegiate RBI and a two-run triple by Muller.
Junior Max Marshall logged the second-longest outing of his career on the mound, limiting the Vikings to two runs on three hits and three walks with five strikeouts in six innings to record his first win of the season.
St. Olaf is scheduled to host Macalester College on Saturday, Apr. 27 in a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Mark Almli Field. With rain/snow in the forecast for Saturday, any updates to the status of the game will be posted at athletics.stolaf.edu.