The Carleton College softball team split a pair of nailbiters with their crosstown rival, St. Olaf College. The Knights dropped the opener 10-9, but bounced back to take game two by a 9-8 scoreline.

Game 1 Recap

St. Olaf 10, Carleton 9

In a back-and-forth game, it was St. Olaf (15-17, 9-5 MIAC) that had the last laugh. The Oles trailed 3-0, 4-1, 7-4 and 9-7 before scoring three runs in the top of the sixth inning.

Carleton (12-16, 3-9 MIAC) started out strong, scoring three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Amy Chen ’24 singled before Cassie Cunniff ’23 walked. Bryanna Schaffer ’25 drove both home with a two-run triple, then came in to score a run of her own via Adriana Wiggins’ ’26 RBI single to left field.

The Oles responded with a run in the top of the third before Carleton got that tally back thanks to Cunniff’s RBI double in the bottom of the inning.

St. Olaf tied the game at 4-4 by plating three runs in the top of the fourth inning, but Carleton immediately responded in the bottom of the frame. Grace Colburn ’26 notched an RBI single and Chen added a two-run hit.

Once again, the Oles punched back, plating another three runs in the top of the fifth frame and knotting the score at 7-7. However, the momentum swung back in favor of the Knights as Cunnif hit an RBI triple and Schaffer followed with a sacrifice fly that gave the hosts a 9-7 lead.

Unfortunately for the Knights, the visitors once again scored three in the top of the next stanza. This time, the Knights could not register a response, falling by a final score of 10-9.

Chen and Laurie Avila ’23 had three hits apiece to pace the Knights. Wiggins and Cunnif both had two hits and a walk. Schaffer collected a team-best three RBI.

Game 2 Recap

Carleton 9, St. Olaf 8

On the back of a huge seven-run fifth inning, the Knights were able to hold on and take the second game of the doubleheader.

After St. Olaf scored two runs in the top of the second, the Knights responded with Emma Kartheiser’s ’23 RBI single in the home half of the inning. Adriana Wiggins’ run-scoring grounder in the third inning tied the game at 2-2.

The Oles went on to score twice in the top of the sixth inning, but then the Knights broke loose. With the bases loaded and none out, Schaffer delivered a two-run single. Two batters later, Avila hit a sacrifice fly to left field but the Ole defender could not make the catch, allowing two runs to score. Colburn singled and Chen walked to re-load the bases for Kartheiser to clear the bases with a clutch double.

St. Olaf responded in the top of the sixth with a three-run homer by Tarah DeCroock and a sacrifice fly that brought the visitors within 9-8. Faith Hanshaw ’23 came out of the Carleton bullpen and tossed 2.0 innings to earn her first save of the season.

Hala Soliman ’23 earned the win for the Knights, improving to 6-4 after pitching the first 5.0 innings.

Kartheiser finished 2-for-2 with a walk and four RBI. Colburn was the other Knight with a multi-hit game.

Then, the Carleton College softball team dropped two close games at the College of St. Scholastica, falling 3-1 and 6-5.

The Knights had baserunners in 13 of 14 innings on the day but struggled at times to come up with key hits, going a combined 3-for-17 with two sacrifice flies and a sacrifice bunt when batting with runners in scoring position.

Game 1 Recap

St. Scholastica 3, Carleton 1

Things started great for Carleton (12-18, 3-11 MIAC) as Cassie Cunniff walked to begin the game and raced home on Bryanna Schaffer’s double. Unfortunately, that was all the scoring for the Knights in the contest.

St. Scholastica (14-14, 4-8 MIAC) knotted the score at 1-1 with a two-out run in the third inning.

The game remained tied until the Saint’s Samantha Paniagua hit a two-run walkoff home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Schaffer made the start in the circle for Carleton, allowing one run over 4.0 innings.

Game 2 Recap

St. Scholastica 6, Carleton 5

Once again, the Knights scored first. As she did in the opener, Cunniff worked a leadoff walk, this time scoring on a sacrifice fly by Adriana Wiggins.

In the bottom of the first, St. Scholastica leveled the score by pulling off a double steal that brought a run home.

The back-and-forth play continued when Emma Kartheiser hit a two-run double in the top of the second inning, followed by Helen Moses’ ’24 single that gave the visitors a 4-1 lead.

St. Scholastica responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame, three of them coming with two out. The Saints tallied their final run in the third inning.

The score remained 6-4 in the hosts’ favor until the top of the fifth. Laurie Avila tripled with one out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Grace Colburn.

The Knights had scoring chances in the sixth and seventh innings but could not scratch out the tying run.

Wiggins and Kartheiser both had two hits in the game to pace the Knights. Faith Hanshaw twirled 4.1 innings of one-run relief.

Up Next for the Knights

Carleton returns home to host Macalester College for a Senior Day doubleheader at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 29. The Knights then travel to Concordia College-Moorhead for another twinbill the following day.