ST. PAUL, Minn. – Junior Elsa Church (St. Louis, Mo./Kirkwood) singled home senior Jessica Katzin (Chicago, Ill./Jones College Prep) in the bottom of the seventh for a walk-off, 8-7 victory in the second game of a MIAC doubleheader against St. Olaf Monday evening at the Macalester Softball Complex. The thrilling win came in the season finale for the Scots, who end the year 15-22 overall and 7-14 in conference play. The Oles are now 19-19, 13-7 MIAC.

St. Olaf opened the first game with four runs on three hits in the top of the first inning. Macalester answered in the bottom of the first, when sophomore Renee Nicholson (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) came home from second on a single by senior Emily Bergin (Houston, Texas/St. Thomas Episcopal School), and senior Regan Brodine (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) tripled to plate Bergin to make the score 4-2. The Oles pushed a run across in the top of the second, then scored twice in the fourth for a 7-2 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, Katzin led off with a single, stole second and scored on a double by first year Hannah Taylor (Pearland, Texas/Shadow Creek). After St. Olaf added a run in the top of the fifth to make the score 8-3, the Scots made a comeback attempt in the bottom of the seventh. With runners on second and third with one out, Bergin hit a grounder that brought home sophomore Sophie Futchko (Prince Frederick, Md./Huntingtown). Brodine followed with a double that plated Nicholson, then an error allowed Brodine to come home and make the score 8-6. The Oles retired the final batter to end the threat and the game. Brodine, Katzin and Taylor each delivered two hits for Macalester.

St. Olaf took the early lead again in Game 2 with three runs in the first and two more in the second for a 5-0 advantage. In the bottom of the second, the Scots loaded the bases with two out for Nicholson, whose grounder was misplayed, allowing Taylor to score. Then in the third, junior Mandy Morrical (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon) led off with a double, advanced to third on a grounder by Brodine and scored on an RBI groundout by Bergin to make the score 5-2.

Taylor continued to swing a hot bat, leading off the fourth with a single up the middle. First year Fiona Candland (San Francisco, Calif./Lowell) pinch ran for Taylor and promptly stole second. Senior Gabriella Plisko (Alpharetta, Ga./The Galloway School) followed with a single, putting runners on first and third. Candland was able to score on a groundout by Church, then Futchko singled home junior Emily Pedersen (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson), who re-entered for Plisko, to make the score 5-4. The Oles added a run in the top of the fifth for a 6-4 lead. In the bottom of the sixth, the Scots loaded the bases for Morrical, who blasted a triple to deep centerfield, clearing the bases for a 7-6 lead. St. Olaf was able to tie the score in the top of the seventh and had the bases loaded with one out, but first year Kara Jensen (Elmhurst, Ill./York) induced a pair of fly balls to end the inning.

Katzin led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk, then Pedersen hit a one-out single to put runners on first and second. Church stepped up and laced a single to left field, allowing Katzin to race around third and score the winning run as her teammates celebrated. The win is the first over the Oles since 2017, also a walk-off win in the bottom of the 11th inning at the Macalester Softball Complex. Church and Morrical both had two hits in the victory on Monday.

Jensen, who pitched four innings in Game 1, went the distance in the second game, giving up seven runs, six earned, on 10 hits while fanning five and walking six. She threw a combined 265 pitches on the day, including 150 in Game 2.  

The thrilling finish also marked the end of the college softball careers of seniors Bergin, Brodine, Katzin and Plisko.