ST. PAUL, Minn. – The top-seeded St. Olaf College baseball team advanced to the championship round of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs with an 11-9 victory over fourth-seeded Saint Mary's University after falling early in the day by a 14-2 score to second-seeded Bethel University on Friday at CHS Field.

To start the day, Bethel (24-14) used four multi-run innings – including an eight-run sixth – to deal St. Olaf (29-13) a 14-2 defeat in seven innings and advance to the championship round. Later in the day, the Oles used home runs from sophomore Breckin Hadley and senior Joey Glampe to build a 10-3 lead and held off Saint Mary's (21-18) in an elimination game to stay alive.

With the 1-1 day, St. Olaf will need to defeat Bethel twice on Saturday, May 11 to secure the playoff title for the fourth time in program history. The Oles and Royals will meet at 3 p.m. to start the day, with a decisive seventh game to follow if St. Olaf wins the first game.

St. Olaf's victory over Saint Mary's was its second in as many days and its 25th all-time win in the MIAC Playoffs, which is the highest total of any current member of the conference. This year marks the first time the Oles have won multiple games in the MIAC Playoffs since the third of St. Olaf's three playoff titles in 2009.

Bethel 14, St. Olaf 2 (7 inn.) | Box Score

Bethel avenged a regular-season sweep at the hands of St. Olaf with a run-rule victory in the second game of the day, which was the fourth consecutive game in this year's MIAC Playoffs to be decided by the run rule. The Royals scored twice in the second, fourth, and fifth innings and eight more times in the sixth in the first-ever postseason meeting between the two programs.

First year Cole Pleimann drove in both of St. Olaf's runs in the game and had one of the Oles' three hits off MIAC Pitcher of the Year contender John Solfest. Solfest went the distance for Bethel, holding St. Olaf to two runs on three hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. Senior Joey Glampe and sophomore Frank Lavin also recorded hits for St. Olaf.

Five pitchers worked in the loss for the Oles. Junior Jacob Fickenscher took the loss after surrendering four runs (three earned) on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts over the first 4.0 innings. In his collegiate debut, first year Izack Takazawa threw a 1-2-3 seventh inning, including striking out the final batter to record St. Olaf's program-record 283rd strikeout of the season.

Bethel got on the board first with two runs in the top of the second to stake Solfest to an early lead. Xavier Lortie led off the inning with a solo home run to right and, later in the inning, Noah Wenberg rolled an opposite-field RBI single through a big hole in the right side of the infield to score the second run of the inning.

St. Olaf halved its deficit in the bottom of the second on back-to-back doubles by Glampe and Pleimann to start the frame. Glampe's double came up about a foot or two shy of the wall in left before Pleimann drove a two-bagger to the warning track in right center.

The Royals scored twice in the fourth and twice more in the fifth – on a two-run home run by Ty Koehn – before tallying eight runs on nine hits in the top of the sixth to push their lead to 14-1. The Oles scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth on a ground out off the bat of Pleimann that scored junior Matthew Kulesa, who was hit by a pitch to start the inning.

St. Olaf 11, Saint Mary's 9 | Box Score

Saint Mary's held a 2-0 lead before a two-run home run by Hadley and a grand slam by Glampe helped St. Olaf score 10 of the game's next 11 runs to open up a 10-3 lead after six innings. Things started to unravel for the Oles defensively in the seventh, as the Cardinals scored six times to close the gap to one, but senior Brock Brumley made the lead stand up to keep St. Olaf alive.

All nine starting position players registered at least one hit for St. Olaf, which also drew 10 walks in the win. Hadley was 3-for-5, while junior Evan Hammonds, Kulesa, and Frank Lavin collected two hits apiece. Hammonds got on base five times by going 2-for-3 with three walks, two runs scored, and an RBI, while Frank Lavin scored three times.

Sophomore Kevin Steel moved to 6-1 on the season despite allowing eight runs – three of which were earned – on four hits with six walks and three strikeouts. First year Kieran Haaland gave up an unearned run while getting two outs before Brumley got the final seven outs to extend his single-season program record with his eighth save of the season. Brumley did not allow a hit with two walks and a strikeout over his 2.1 innings of relief.

Saint Mary's took advantage of three walks to score twice in the top of the first and held onto that lead until Hadley tied the game with a two-run shot to right with two outs in the third. Glampe highlighted St. Olaf's five-run fourth inning with a two-out grand slam to break the 2-2 tie. Pleimann and Hadley followed with singles before sophomore Mason Buck plated Pleimann with a single to right to make it 7-2.

After the teams traded runs in the bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth, St. Olaf stretched its lead to 10-3 with a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs and a runner on first, senior Brian Nevin scored all the way from first on Hammonds' single to right center and, two batters later, Sam Lavin lined a single into left center to score Hammonds.

Saint Mary's made it a one-run game with six runs on just three hits in the top of the seventh, taking advantage of three St. Olaf errors in the inning. The Cardinals benefited from three fly balls that were lost in the lights and a pair of other errors before Brumley entered the game and got the final out to leave the tying run at second.

The Oles added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Frank Lavin led off with a walk, got to third on a single by Hammonds, and scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Sam Lavin. Brumley worked around a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth to shut the door and move the Oles into the championship round.