St. Olaf Softball has officially kicked off its 2026 season, winning three out of its first four games back on the field. After a strong season last year, with a 24-16 record overall and making it to the quarterfinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), the team will be relying on its balance of returning upperclasswomen and a large first-year class to push for the MIAC Championship.
Their season started off away in Mankato on Feb. 14 with back-to-back games against Bethany Lutheran College and Crown College. During the season opener game against Bethany, the Oles started with a rough start, losing 7-2. Infielders Elle Brandt ’26 and Kyra Narum ’27 both scored for St. Olaf, with Brandt starting off the fourth inning by hitting a double and stealing third. Narum started the bottom of the sixth scoring on a two-out single.
The second game of the day went much better for the Oles, winning 9-1 against Crown College. In the first inning, both teams scored a run, which pushed St. Olaf to continue on their streak and score runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Pitcher Roxanne Ring ’26 showed up, only letting one run by on three hits, with no walks and five strikeouts. Pitcher Sophia Grace Aquino ’29 picked up exactly where Ring left off, not letting anyone from Crown score during her first game at St. Olaf. There were also strong performances from outfielders Belle Schmidt ’26 and Eva Hokanson ’27, who drove in three runs each.
The team traveled back to Mankato on Feb. 21, where the Oles had a strong sweep, winning both games back-to-back. First, St. Olaf hit University of Wisconsin-River Falls, winning 4-2 and continuing their four-game winning streak against River Falls, which started back in 2013. Brandt, Hokanson, and Schmidt had strong performances, with Brandt and Hokanson both having two hits and two Runs Batted In (RBIs), while Schmidt scored two runs for the Oles.
St. Olaf defeated Dominican University 8-0 in their second game. Pitcher Madyn Singleton ’26 grabbed her first win of the season by allowing only four hits, one walk, and one strikeout over the five innings. Infielder Joy Jung ’29 and outfielder Abby Nevin ’26 both got two hits, and outfielder Jillian Arp ’27 had two RBIs.
Even with a few players out in the early season, and 13 new freshmen on the team, the Oles will definitely be working towards a MIAC championship this year. With strong freshmen like Jung and Aquino and juniors like Arp, Hokanson, and Narum, the team has all the right players to make it far this year. Additionally, with it being their final season, seniors like Brandt, Ring, and Schmidt seem to already be leaving it all out on the field.
This weekend, St. Olaf Softball will head to Rochester, Minn. to go up against University of Wisconsin-Platteville and Buena Vista University for back-to-back games on Feb. 28. Looking further ahead, they still have a long season to go with many opportunities to go support our St. Olaf Softball Team all the way into April.
