ON TAP
Macalester opens its 2015 season, Sunday, when the Scots take on Minnesota-Morris in a doubleheader at the Irish Sports Dome in Rosemount, Minn. Game one of the twin bill is slated for 9 a.m.

LAST SEASON
The Scots won 20 games for the second time in three seasons under head coach Jody Gabriel, finishing eighth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with an 8-14 mark.
 
Macalester was led by its two All-MIAC performers, Saraswati Wilson and Miranda Stokes, both of whom finished the season batting .421.
 
Wilson, the team's shortstop, led the MIAC during the regular season with 145 at bats and 61 hits, adding 27 RBI and seven stolen bases.
 
Stokes led the team with seven home runs, 46 RBI and a .461 on-base percentage while also turning in a 6-8 record as a pitcher, making 28 appearances with 13 starts.
 
2015 PREVIEW
With seven of their top eight hitters and their number one and two starting pitchers returning from last season, the Scots have reason for optimism.
 
Both Stokes and Brittany Ehmann, who was 9-9 in the circle last season with two saves while leading the team with 19 starts, eight complete games and 110.0 innings, are also valuable hitters.
 
Stokes, who batted third in the lineup in 39 of 40 games in 2014, and Ehmann, who batted primarily in the fifth spot, provided Macalester with a combined 75 runs, 10 home runs and 73 RBI in the middle or the lineup.
 
Wilson played every inning of the 2014 at shortstop, anchoring the Scots' infield defense which returns intact this season.
 
Hali Englert and Erin Slater split time at first base last season, combining for a .986 fielding percentage at the position and an overall batting average of .288.
 
Maddy Jasper started all 40 games at second base and, with a .972 fielding percentage, combined with Wilson to give the Scots a solid combination in the middle of the defense.
 
Third base was handled by Anna Munson, who also started all 40 games a year ago and turned in a .290 batting average along with a .964 fielding percentage.
 
Behind the plate, Nikki Caicedo started 38 of 40 games in her rookie season and batted .342, with a .425 on-base percentage, in the bottom half of the order.
 
The only place Macalester loses a starter is in the outfield with Cleo Nagy, the team's centerfielder in 2014, departing via graduation with a .306 average, six home runs and 33 RBI. However, Stokes, in left, and Abby Cox, in right, saw the majority of playing time in the other two outfield spots.
 
Cox, the team's primary number two hitter, sported a .315 average with six home runs and 23 RBI to a lineup which batted .324 and averaged nearly six runs per game.
 
The Scots have been picked by MIAC coaches to finish ninth in the 12-team conference race. The top four teams in the conference standings will qualify for the MIAC Softball Playoffs, May 1-3.
 
Macalester has 14 games slated before opening conference play and Gabriel knows those games are key to preparing for the tough MIAC schedule.
 
"It's fantastic to have so much depth but it also leads to the uncertainty of how the puzzle might fit together," she said. "We will be working on using all of the talents of our team to figure out what will work best for us.
 
"In our 14 games prior to MIAC play, we will be in search of what combinations of team members perform best in which positions and situations. We will be working through, and continuing to improve, our game so that when MIAC play begins we are at our best."
 
SHE'S THE BOSS
Jody Gabriel is in her fourth season at Macalester College. The Scots went 20-18 in Gabriel's initial season to post the school's first winning record since 1997 and wrap up the MIAC campaign with a 9-13 slate after winning just one conference game the year before.
 
Prior to arriving at Macalester, Gabriel served as head coach at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls for four years. She led the Falcons to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season and playoff championships in 2011 as the team finished with a 28-15 overall record and a four-game appearance in the NCAA Division III playoffs. UW-River Falls went 108-60 during her four seasons leading the program and never had a losing record in the competitive WIAC.
 
Gabriel was selected 2011 WIAC Coach of the Year and her staff was named 2011 Great Lakes Region Coaching Staff of the Year. UW-River Falls was ranked No. 19 in the final national poll and went undefeated at home with a 14-0 record. Gabriel also taught full-time in the Hudson (Wis.) school district as a secondary social science instructor while coaching at UW-River Falls.
 
Gabriel was an assistant coach with the Falcons for five seasons before serving as interim head coach. She also coached as an assistant for two years at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, where the Cardinals were co-MIAC champions in 2001 and placed second in 2002. She has also coached for various teams at the high school and traveling levels in the Twin Cities.
 
Gabriel played collegiately at UW-River Falls from 1994-96. The 1994 team won the WIAC title and competed in the NCAA Division III playoffs. She earned her undergraduate degree in accounting in 1996 and her M.S.E. degree (social studies) from UW-River Falls in 2000.
 
Up Next
Macalester is slated for one more doubleheader at the Irish Sports Dome before its Spring Break Trip. The Scots will face Northwestern-St. Paul, Wednesday, with game one scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m.

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