NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College baseball team used a nine-run first inning to claim a 12-3 victory over Augsburg University in game one before game two was suspended after six innings due to darkness on Wednesday afternoon at a rainy Mark Almli Field.

St. Olaf (7-13, 3-4 MIAC) took advantage of three errors by Augsburg (5-14, 2-5 MIAC) to score nine unearned runs in the opening inning of game one and went on to record the 12-3 win. Five Oles had multi-hit games in the opener and first year Kevin Steel earned his first collegiate victory with six strong innings.

Steel limited the Auggies to three runs on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts in his third-career start. The six innings matched the first year's highest total of the season from a no-decision against Colby College on March 24.

Sophomore Evan Hammonds was 3-for-5 with two runs and one RBI out of the leadoff spot, while first year Breckin Hadley, junior Sam Lavin, sophomore Matthew Kulesa, and first year Brendan Goldman had two hits apiece. Lavin knocked in a game-high three runs, while Hadley, Kulesa, and junior Brian Nevin each had two runs scored and two RBI.

After Steel set Augsburg in order in the top of the first, St. Olaf plated nine runs on just five hits in the home half of the inning. Kulesa and Lavin both had two-run singles in the inning, while Goldman and Hammonds also had run-scoring hits.

The Auggies got on the board with a single run in the fourth, but the Oles answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to extend their lead to 12-1. After an error and a double by Goldman put two runners in scoring position, Nevin drove in two with a single to right. Later in the inning, Hadley plated a run with an infield single.

Steel faced the minimum of three batters in both the fifth and sixth before running into trouble in the seventh, as the first two batters reached base on a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Junior Derek Hansen came on to relieve Steel and yielded a run on an infield hit, but got a double-play ground out to help limit the damage to two runs before getting the final out.

Per Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) policy, game two will be resumed at a later date with St. Olaf leading 15-11 after six innings. Stats from game two are not official until the game is completed.

The Oles head to Fargo, N.D. for a doubleheader against Concordia-Moorhead at Starion Field on Saturday, April 22. First pitch is at 1 p.m.