DAVENPORT, Fla. – The St. Olaf College baseball team picked up a pair of victories at the RussMatt Invitational on Tuesday, defeating Williams College by an 8-3 margin before edging Franklin College, 4-3, at Northeast Regional Park.

In the opener, St. Olaf (6-5) got seven strong innings from fifth-year senior Hunter Barber and used three multi-run innings to pick up its first-ever win over Williams (3-7) in just the second meeting between the two programs. The Oles went on to avenge a loss to Franklin (15-4) earlier in the week thanks to a three-hit game by sophomore Sam Lavin, who either scored or drove in all four of his team's runs.

St. Olaf concludes its nine-game showing at the RussMatt Invitational with a second meeting with Williams on Wednesday, March 30 at 12:30 p.m. CDT.

St. Olaf 8, Williams 3 | Box Score

Barber and senior Lucas Warner combined to pitch St. Olaf past Williams in its first game of the day, as Barber picked up his first win of the season. The fifth-year senior allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts before Warner struck out three over the final two innings to close out the win.

Eight different Oles had at least one hit in the win, as St. Olaf scored three in the third, three in the sixth, and two in the seventh.

In a scoreless game, St. Olaf got three runs on four hits in the third inning, scoring on an RBI infield hit by sophomore Joey Glampe, a Williams throwing error, and a run-scoring single by Lavin. Barber held the Ephs scoreless until Williams took advantage of an error and a walk to score a run in the fifth.

The Oles responded with another three-run inning in the sixth despite having juts one hit in the frame. Junior Lucas Ammons drove in the first run of the inning with a single before the other two runs scored on a wild pitch and a passed ball.

St. Olaf started the seventh inning with four-straight singles to start a two-run inning. Senior Andrew Nomoto, sophomore Evan Clark, and Lavin singled to fill the bases for sophomore Brian Nevin, who drove a single through the right side to bring Nomoto home. With the bases still full, Ammons knocked in his second run of the game with a fielder's choice to make it 8-1.

Williams got two runs off of Barber in the seventh before Warner threw a scoreless eighth and ninth to lower his team-leading ERA to 1.59. Warner has allowed just one run over 5.2 innings to start the season.

St. Olaf 4, Franklin 3 | Box Score

Lavin reached base in four of his five plate appearances, going 3-for-4 with a walk, a triple, two runs, and two RBI to lead St. Olaf to the one-run win over Franklin to close out the day. The win snapped the Grizzlies' four-game winning streak that included a 9-8 win over the Oles on Monday.

Facing an offense that was averaging nearly 11 runs per game over its first 18 games, three St. Olaf pitchers combined to hold Franklin's offense in check, as the three runs were the second-lowest total of the season for the Grizzlies.

Sophomore Sean Goldman kept Franklin scoreless until the sixth inning, eventually taking a no-decision after allowing two runs on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts over 5.2 innings of work. Sophomore Thomas Quello picked up his first collegiate win after providing 2.1 innings of one-run relief before classmate Will Wamre struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his third save of the season.

Goldman pitched out of first-and-third, one-out jams in both the second and third innings, as he and Damian Tillie put zeroes on the board over the first five innings. St. Olaf finally broke the deadlock in the sixth, as Lavin lined a triple into the right-field corner to bring in fifth-year senior Matthew Muller and Nevin, who reached on an error and a walk.

Franklin got two of the runs right back in the home half of the inning, scoring on a two-out, two-run single by Colby Reed. Reed's single was the lone hit of the inning that included three walks.

The Grizzlies tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out triple by Noah Wood followed by a single up the middle by Matt Earley. The tie did not last long, however, as St. Olaf scored the eventual game-winning run in the next half inning. Lavin led off the eighth with a single – his third hit of the game – moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Clark, and scored on a throwing error.

The Oles protected their one-run lead over the final two innings, including throwing a runner out at third trying for a leadoff triple to start the bottom of the eighth. After Quello got out of the eighth, Wamre retired the Grizzlies' 2-3-4 hitters in order in the ninth, striking out the final two batters of the game.