INDIANOLA, Iowa – The St. Olaf College baseball team split its season-opening doubleheader at Simpson College on Saturday, claiming a 2-1 win in game one before falling 4-1 in game two at McBride Field.

Sophomore Jacob Fickenscher and first year Kevin Steel combined for eight shutout innings to pitch St. Olaf (1-1) to a 2-1 victory in the opener before Simpson (1-4) limited the Oles to one hit to take game two of the low-scoring twin bill.

The doubleheader marked the first meetings between the two programs in 30 years, as the last matchup between St. Olaf and Simpson came on March 28, 1993.

St. Olaf 2, Simpson 1 | Box Score

Fickenscher tossed five shutout innings and Steel added three scoreless frames before junior Derek Hansen held off Simpson in the ninth for the save. The Oles got all the offense they would need with a pair of runs in the sixth inning.

Fickenscher limited the Storm to two hits and one walk while striking out five in five shutout innings to pick up the third victory of his collegiate career. In his collegiate debut, Steel fanned four over three innings of work, yielding just two hits and a run. Hansen got through the ninth inning for his second-career save, stranding the tying run at third by getting a lineout to left to end the game.

Sophomore Evan Hammonds was the lone hitter with multiple hits in the game, going 2-for-4 with a run scored for the Oles. Sophomore Jack Alley drove in the first run of the game with a single in the sixth and first year Frank Lavin had a single and drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk.

Trey Castille held St. Olaf to three hits through six innings but took the loss after allowing two runs with three walks and eight strikeouts. Dylan Schee threw three shutout innings of relief, giving up two hits and a walk with two strikeouts.

Fickenscher and Castille shut down both offenses over the first five innings before the Oles broke through in the top of the sixth. After Hammonds reached on an infield single to start the inning, first year Brendan Goldman was hit by a pitch and junior Sam Lavin drew a walk to fill the bases with one out for Alley, who drove a single to left to score Hammonds. After a strikeout, Lavin coaxed a walk to bring in Goldman for what proved to be the game-winning run.

Simpson generated a rally in the ninth, putting two runners in scoring position with one out by starting the frame with a single, a walk, and a sacrifice bunt. Hansen got a grounder back to the mound for the second out, as one run scored and the trail runner advanced to third, but the junior got a line drive right at Goldman in left on the first pitch to end the game.

Simpson 4, St. Olaf 1 | Box Score

St. Olaf scored its lone run in the fourth to take a lead, but Simpson shut out the Oles the rest of the way and used a three-run fifth to go on to earn the split. Sam Lavin's one-out triple in the fourth was the lone hit of the game for St. Olaf.

Easton Dunwoody picked up the win for Simpson, limiting St. Olaf to one run on one hit in six innings of work with four walks and nine strikeouts. Dunwoody combined with Mitchell Roeder for the one-hitter, as Roeder did not allow a hit or a walk while striking out four over the final three frames.

First year Cade Mutscher threw four scoreless innings for the Oles in his collegiate debut before giving up three runs in the fifth. The first year's final line saw him give up three runs on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Sophomore Matthew Oberlander gave up just one run on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts over the final three innings.

The Oles opened the scoring in the fourth when sophomore Jack Alley reached on an error after Sam Lavin tripled to left center with one away. St. Olaf had runners on second and third with one out later in the frame but could not add any more runs. Still up by a run, the Oles again had two runners in scoring position with one out but failed to score after leaving the bases loaded.

After escaping the two jams relatively unscathed, Simpson plated three runs in the fifth to take a lead it would hold onto. After Mutscher retired the first two batters of the inning, four consecutive batters reached for the Storm, who got the tie-breaking two-run double from Ian Baldwin after scoring a run on a double steal. Simpson added an insurance run in the eighth to build a three-run lead.

The two teams wrap up their three-game weekend with a single game on Sunday, March 5 at 1 p.m. at McBride Field.