Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Macalester vs. Hood Box Score
Macalester vs. Westfield State Box Score
 
Following a rough outing on Wednesday, the Macalester softball team came roaring back with a 9-3 win over Hood (Md.) before dropping a 6-5 heartbreaker in 11 innings to Westfield State (N.Y.), Thursday in Clermont, Fla.
 
Miranda Stokes (Fy., Perry, Utah / Box Elder) and Cleo Nagy (So., Eugene, Ore. / Henry D. Sheldon) came up with big hits in both games to lead the Scots at the plate on the day. Stokes had four hits on the day including two doubles, while Nagy added a home run and four RBIs.
 
In the first matchup of the day, the Scots broke open a 2-0 lead with a six-run, five-hit inning in the top of the fourth to go up 8-0 over Hood. Katie Fuller (So., Boulder, Colo. / Boulder )started off the inning with a double, while Tara Cayton (Fy., Pleasanton, Calif. / Amador Valley), Nagy, Erin Slater (Fy., Federal Way, Wash. / Decatur ) and Anna Munson (Fy., LaCrosse, Wis. / Central) also recorded hits to add to the Scots scoring surge.
 
Offensive leaders vs. Hood included Stokes, who went 3-for-4 and one run scored, and Slater, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Cayton scored two runs, while Hali Englert (Fy., Castle Rock, Colo. / Castle View) added another and recorded a hit. Courtney Nussbaumer (Jr., Brookfield, Wis. / East) also recorded her third hit of the season.  
 
Amanda Knopf (Sr., Boulder, Colo. / Boulder) pitched three innings for Macalester and allowed just one hit. Alisha Barritt (So., Oklahoma City, Okla. / Bethany) came into the game in the fourth, pitching four innings and earning her second win of the season.
 
The second game of the day against Westfield State started as a pitching battle with no hits recorded in the first three innings. However, Westfield struck first scoring a run in the top of the fourth to go up 1-0.
 
The first hit of the game for Macalester came from Nagy, who hit her fifth homerun of the season, a two-run shot, to put the Scots up 2-1 in the bottom of the second.
 
Westfield didn't let up, though as it recorded three hits for two runs in the top of the fifth to go up 3-2. As they did all game, the Scots found an answer for the Westfield offensive strike. Knopf singled to get on base and came across home on an infield fly from Nagy to tie up the game at three.
 
The 3-3 stalemate sent the game into extra innings where the back and forth play continued until Westfield was able to shut down the Scots in the bottom of the eleventh inning for the 6-5 win. Allie Dautrich (So., Mansfield Center, Conn. / E.O. Smith), Stokes, Knopf and Slater added hits in the extra innings, while Fuller recorded her second double of the day and fourth of the season. Nagy and Lily Alexander (So., Takoma Park, Md. / Montgomery Blair) scored the Scots' two runs in the eighth and tenth innings, respectively.
 
Stokes pitched eight innings for Macalester and struck out six batters. Brittany Ehmann (Fy., Island Lake, Ill. / Wauconda) recorded the loss in three innings pitched with three strikeouts.
 
Macalester wraps up its spring break trip on Friday as it takes on Thiel (Pa.) at 9:00 a.m. and Ripon (Wis.) at 1:00 p.m.