NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College baseball team moved to 15-1 in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play for the first time in program history and clinched at least a share of the MIAC regular-season title with 9-5 and 9-7 victories over crosstown-rival Carleton College on Saturday at Mel Taube Field.

In the opener, St. Olaf (25-9, 15-1 MIAC) led 9-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh before being forced to hold off Carleton (10-21, 7-11 MIAC) in the final inning. In the nightcap, the Knights held a 5-3 lead after six innings, but the Oles scored six of the final eight runs of the game to complete their seventh MIAC sweep of the season.

The two wins extended St. Olaf's winning streak to nine games and gave the Oles 16 wins in their last 17 games since returning from their trip to Florida at the start of April. The nine-game winning steak is St. Olaf's longest since winning 13 in a row from April 20 – May 5, 2008.

The regular-season conference championship is the 17th in program history for St. Olaf and its first since 2007. The 17 titles are the most for any current member of the MIAC, two ahead of Saint John's University and three ahead of Gustavus Adolphus College.

St. Olaf will visit nationally-ranked UW-La Crosse for a single 3 p.m. non-conference game on Tuesday, April 30 before returning to Mark Almli Field to host Hamline University on Wednesday, May 1 at 2:30/5 p.m. The Oles need one win from their four remaining MIAC games – or one loss by Saint John's – to claim the regular-season title outright.

St. Olaf 9, Carleton 5 | Box Score

St. Olaf broke open a 1-1 tie by scoring eight of the game's next nine runs to open up a 9-2 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh. Trailing by seven, Carleton put together a two-out rally in the final half inning and had the tying run in the on-deck circle before the Oles finished off the win.

St. Olaf outhit Carleton by a 13-6 margin in the opener and got three-hit games from junior Matthew Kulesa, senior Sam Lavin, and senior Brian Nevin. Kulesa was 3-for-4 with a walk, a double, and three runs scored, Lavin was 3-for-5 with a double, a stolen base, a run scored, and two RBI, and Nevin was 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

Junior Jacob Fickenscher earned his second victory of the season after holding the Knights to one run on two hits with no walks and six strikeouts over the first 4.0 innings. First year Kieran Haaland got eight outs in relief before the Knights' seventh-inning rally forced the Oles to bring in senior Brock Brumley to get the final out. Brumley claimed his sixth save to set the single-season program record.

The two teams exchanged first-inning runs, with St. Olaf opening the scoring with back-to-back one-out doubles from Kulesa and Lavin to go on top. Carleton responded with a solo home run from Ryan Chang in the bottom of the inning.

In his return from injury, sophomore Breckin Hadley doubled in senior Joey Glampe, who got on via a wild pitch on a strikeout to start the inning, with a one-out double in the top of the fourth to give St. Olaf a lead it would maintain the rest of the way. Fickenscher got three strikeouts in the bottom of the fourth, including one to leave runners on second and third, to conclude his outing.

The Oles added three runs to their lead on a bases-clearing double from first year Cole Pleimann in the top of the fifth. Junior Evan Hammonds drew a leadoff walk to start the inning before singles from Kulesa and Glampe filled the bases for Pleimann with one away.

After Carleton got a run in the bottom of the fifth, St. Olaf scored four times in the top of the sixth to build a 9-2 lead. Lavin drove in the first run of the inning with a single and, three batters later, Hadley coaxed a bases-loaded walk to bring in another. Sophomore Mason Buck followed with a sacrifice fly before Nevin capped the inning with a two-out RBI single.

After the first two Carleton batters reached base in the bottom of the seventh, Haaland got the next two batters to get the Oles within one out of the win. The Knights did not go quietly, however, as an infield hit, a hit batter, and a two-run single chased Haaland in a 9-5 game with two runners on base. Brumley entered the game and got a ground out to short to end it.

St. Olaf 9, Carleton 7 | Box Score

In a game that included a combined eight errors, St. Olaf took advantage of five Carleton errors to score four unearned runs on its way to completing the sweep. The Knights committed three errors in the Oles' four-run seventh inning and another tat led to a run in the eighth, as St. Olaf overcame a 5-3 deficit.

Eight Oles had at least one hit in the game, led by two-hit games from Glampe and Nevin. Glampe was 2-for-5 with two doubles, a run scored, and two RBI, while Nevin was 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored.

St. Olaf used five pitchers in the victory, with first year Nick Levasseur allowing three runs (one earned) on two hits with one walk and four strikeouts over the first 3.0 innings of a no-decision. First year Carter Follman yielded one run over his 2.0 innings of relief. Brumley was credited with the win after giving up two runs in his 2.1 innings out of the bullpen before Lavin slammed the door in the ninth for his second save of the season.

Hammonds started the game with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch, got to third on a single by Kulesa, and scored on an error on a fielder's choice off the bat of Glampe to give St. Olaf a quick 1-0 lead. Carleton used an infield hit, a ground out, a stolen base, and an error to push across a run in the bottom of the inning.

The Knights took advantage of two St. Olaf errors and a wild pitch to score twice in the second to take a 3-1 lead. The Oles fought back in the top of the fourth with two runs to tie the game at 3-3. With the bases loaded and one out, Buck plated a run with a sacrifice fly and Nevin followed with an opposite-field single to right to tie it up.

A second throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt by St. Olaf allowed Carleton to break the tie and take a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth. The hosts added a run with back-to-back two-out hits in the sixth to go up by two.

In the top of the seventh, Carleton committed three errors that allowed St. Olaf to score four runs on just one hit while giving the Oles a 7-5 lead. After the first two runners reached, Hammonds dropped down a sacrifice bunt that the Knights threw down the right-field line to allow a run to score. Two batters later, Lavin reached on an error on a ground ball with the infield drawn that brought in two runs. Glampe delivered St. Olaf's only hit of the inning with an RBI double to score Lavin.

Nevin led off the top of the eighth with a double and scored on a throwing error on a bunt single by junior Matthew Oberlander to extend the Oles' lead to 8-5. Carleton made it a one-run game with a two-out, two-run single by Sam Gossard in the bottom of the eighth before Hadley and Buck recorded back-to-back doubles in the ninth for the final run of the game. Lavin retired the Knights in order in the bottom of the ninth to close out the win.