Macalester vs. St. Olaf box scores: Game 1 | Game 2

With the Scots down to their final out, Chloe Souza (So., Los Angeles, Calif. / Windward) blasted a three-run homer to lift Macalester to an 8-6 win and a split with third-place St. Olaf in Northfield.

The Scots scored four times in the top of the sixth inning to grab a 5-2 lead, only to see St. Olaf re-claim its one-run margin with four runs of its own in the bottom half of the frame. Not to be denied, Mac re-rallied with three to win the game in the seventh. St. Olaf won game one 8-2.

Macalester's sixth-inning rally was started with two outs. Crystal Barriga (Sr., Broomfield, Colo. / Legacy) doubled, Souza reached on an error, Alison Phillips (Sr., Vernon Hills, Ill. / Adlai Stevenson) singled in Barriga, and then the tying and go-ahead run came across on a Monica Keaney (Sr., Philadelphia, Pa. / Friends Select) double. Courtney Nussbaumer (Fy., Brookfield, Wis. / East) doubled in Mac's fourth run.

Setting up Souza's game-winning blast in the top of the seventh were Ali Nystrom (Sr., Minnetonka, Minn.) with a single and Amanda Cagan (Sr., Saratoga, Calif. / Monta Vista) with a walk. This was Souza's first   homer of the season and her second career HR. Eariler, Souza doubled in Mac's first run of the game.  Olivia Abbott (Sr., Lakewood, Colo. / Green Mountain) pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning to pick up the save.

Barriga went 3-for-4 to boost her team-leading average to .423 and four teammates added two hits apiece: Souza, Phillips, Keaney and Nussbaumer.  Phillips is batting .375.

In the first game, the Oles pounded out 13 hits. Souza was 2-for-3 with an RBI double for the Scots.  St. Olaf broke a 2-2 tie with a pair of runs in the fifth inning and put it away with four sixth-inning runs.

St. Olaf started the day all alone in third place in the MIAC and is now tied for third at 7-3 (10-14 overall). Macalester is now 6-22 overall, 2-8 in the conference, and returns to action Saturday (April 17) at home at 4:30 p.m. against Bethel.