WINONA, Minn. – The St. Olaf College baseball team maintained its spot atop the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) after splitting its doubleheader with a 12-4 loss and a 7-4 win against Saint Mary's University on Saturday afternoon at Max Molock Field.

Saint Mary's (15-9, 8-2 MIAC) broke open a 5-3 game with a seven-run sixth inning on its way to winning game one, but St. Olaf (17-9, 7-1 MIAC) responded by getting its bats going late in game two to salvage a split. The Cardinals held a 3-2 lead in the nightcap before the Oles scored five consecutive runs to bounce back from their first MIAC loss of the season.

The split kept St. Olaf one game in the loss column ahead of both Saint Mary's and Saint John's with a 7-1 mark in MIAC play. The Oles host Bethel University on Wednesday, April 17 at 2:30/5 p.m. at Mark Almli Field.

Saint Mary's 12, St. Olaf 4 | Box Score

After facing a 5-1 deficit in the fourth, St. Olaf cut its deficit to 5-3 with two runs in the fifth, but Saint Mary's broke the game open with the seven-run sixth inning to win the opener. Addison Hochevar threw 6.0 innings of three-run ball for the Cardinals, limiting the Oles to seven hits over the six frames.

Junior Evan Hammonds, senior Joey Glampe, and senior Brian Nevin had two hits apiece for St. Olaf, with Nevin scoring a run and driving in another. Sophomore Mason Buck went 1-for-2 with a walk, a double, and two runs scored.

Saint Mary's got out to an early lead by scoring twice on a two-out single in the bottom of the first and added a run to its lead in the second. St. Olaf got on the board in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior Matthew Kulesa to score Buck. Buck started the inning by drawing a walk and got to second on a single by Nevin before Hammonds advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt.

The Cardinals stretched their lead to 5-1 with a two-out rally in the fourth as four consecutive Saint Mary's batters reached base after the first two batters of the inning were retired. The Oles cut into their deficit in the next half inning with two runs to make it a 5-3 game. Buck got on with a leadoff double, moved to third on a passed ball, and scored on an infield hit by Nevin. Three batters later, senior Sam Lavin knocked in Nevin with a sacrifice fly to make it a two-run difference.

Saint Mary's tallied seven runs on five hits in the bottom of the sixth to open up a 12-3 cushion. First year Cole Pleimann drove in the final run of the game with a two-out double in the top of the seventh.

St. Olaf 7, Saint Mary's 4 | Box Score

After falling in another early 2-0 deficit, St. Olaf scored seven of the game's next eight runs and held off Saint Mary's in the bottom of the seventh to secure the split. First year Kieran Haaland earned the second win of his young career by allowing just one unearned run on two hits with one walk and two strikeouts over 5.1 innings of relief.

Lavin, Glampe, Pleimann, and Nevin all had multi-hit games and combined for 12 of St. Olaf's 14 hits in the win. Glampe recorded the third four-hit game of his career – and the first since his rookie season – by going 4-for-5 with three runs scored. Pleimann was 3-for-3 with a walk, a double, a run scored, and two RBI, while Nevin was 3-for-5 with a run scored and three RBI. Lavin went 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored.

St. Olaf left the bases loaded in the first before falling in a 2-0 hole when Saint Mary's scored two two-out runs in the bottom of the second. The Oles halved their deficit in the next half inning by stringing together three consecutive one-out singles to score on Pleimann's single to center that scored Lavin.

Still facing a 2-1 deficit in the fifth, St. Olaf tied the game with a two-out rally of their own. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Glampe and Pleimann singled to put two runners on for Nevin, who singled up the middle to score Glampe and tie the game. The tie did not last long, however, as the Cardinals got the run back in the bottom of the fifth to reclaim the lead at 3-2.

In the top of the seventh, St. Olaf took the lead for good on a two-run single by Nevin. The single came after Lavin and Glampe singled and Pleimann was hit by a pitch to start the inning. The Oles tacked on three more runs in the top of the ninth, scoring on an RBI double by Pleimann, a fielder's choice off the bat of sophomore Christopher Woodside, and a sacrifice fly by Buck.

Despite facing a four-run deficit, Saint Mary's did not go quietly in the bottom of the ninth. With one run already in in the inning, the Cardinals got the tying run to the plate with two outs before Lavin entered the game and got a strikeout to end it and claim the second save of his career.