ON TAPMacalester has six games on its slate this weekend, beginning with this afternoon's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader with Hamline. The twin bill is scheduled to get underway at 2:30 p.m. at the new CHS Field in St. Paul's Lowertown.
Live stats for today's doubleheader will be available, courtesy of Hamline, at
http://www.sidearmstats.com/hamline/baseball/.
The Scots are scheduled to host a pair of doubleheaders over the weekend, beginning with Saturday's MIAC games versus Saint Mary's at Nicholson Field. The opening game of the set is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
Sunday, Macalester will face Minnesota-Morris in a pair of non-conference games, both of which are scheduled for seven innings. The pair of games is scheduled to get underway at 2 p.m.
A web cast and live stats of both home doubleheaders will be available on the internet at
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/macalester/.
WHEN LAST WE METThe Scots and Pipers split a pair of games, May 4, 2014, at Nicholson Field, with Hamline winning the opener, 3-2, while Macalester claimed game two by the same score.
Macalester was stifled by Hamline starting pitcher Aaron Stoneberg in the first game of the doubleheader as the Scots were only able to manage four hits in the contest. Three of those hits came in the first inning, in which Macalester was able to score two runs and take a 2-1 lead.
Quentin Stuart's two-run single kept the Scots in front until the top of the seventh, when Hamline Matt Connell hit a game-deciding two-run home run.
Game two saw Macalester shut out for six innings but, with the Pipers leading, 2-0, the Scots scored all three of their runs in the seventh, finally gaining the lead when
Nick Sia singled home a pair of runs.
Lucas Babinec go eight innings to earn his first victory of the season and
Brendan O'Connor worked the ninth for his first career save.
Saint Mary's swept a doubleheader from Macalester in Winona, Minn., April 19, 2014. The Scots got all three of their runs in the second inning, tying the game at 3-3, with
Ross Bronfenbrenner hitting a two-run triple to highlight the inning.
The Cardinals took a 6-0 lead through the first three innings of the nightcap and never looked back.
Sam Berk had three hits for Macalester while
Scott Foltz and
Jonathan Melms both came off the bench to contribute a pair of singles to the Scots' cause.
Macalester and Minnesota-Morris have not met since the Scots swept a pair of games, 18-1 and 8-1, at the Metrodome, March 5, 2009. Macalester had 17 hits, including six doubles and two triples, in game one and got a five-hit effort from three different pitches, who combined for nine strikeouts without a walk, in game two.
LOOKING BACKThe Scots got off to a good start in Wednesday's doubleheader at Concordia as Stuart gave them a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game one with his third home run of the season. However, there was little to cheer after that as the Cobbers came back with a nine-run third inning and swept the two-game set, 15-6 and 16-6.
Sunday, Macalester squared off with Wisconsin-Stout in a non-conference doubleheader and, despite home runs from Sia, Stuart and
Tom Forster, the Scots dropped game one, 4-3.
Game two saw the hosts snap their 13-game losing streak when they scored three runs in the first and third innings, four in the second and fourth innings, and coasted to a 14-4 win. Forster doubled three times and drove in four runs while
Sam Berk hit his first home run of the season to lead a 14-hit attack.
Sean O'Brien allowed just two hits in four innings to earn the win and
Anson Justi worked the final three innings to pick up his first save of the season.
OF NOTE …Stuart hit home runs in three consecutive games last week. He blasted one in each game at Concordia before hitting his team-leading fifth of the season in Sunday's loss to the Blue Devils.
Nick Mar extended his team season-high hitting streak to nine games last week. During his streak, Mar is batting .355 (11-for-31) with two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI along with a .411 on-base percentage.
Sunday's twin bill saw Forster get back on track offensively. A
D3Baseball.com third-team all-region pick last year, he went 6-for-8 in the two games with three doubles, a home run and five RBI to raise his batting average back over the .300 mark to .338 for the season.
O'Connor worked two scoreless innings in relief in game one of the UW-Stout twin bill, marking his fourth outing this season in which he has not allowed a run. All seven of his appearances this season have been in relief and have seen him pitch at least two innings in each outing. He has allowed 17 hits in 22 innings to go with eight walks and 19 strikeouts, posting a 2.05 earned run average on the season.
NATIONAL RANKINGSA total of 375 teams play NCAA Division III baseball and, through games of April 12, the Scots are ranked highly in several categories.
INDIVIDUALS| Category | Player | Rank | Actual | National Leader | Actual |
| Doubles Per Game | Sam Berk | 3 | 0.68 | Nate Pajka, Bates | 0.80 |
| Doubles | Sam Berk | 19 | 13 | Five players tied | 16 |
| Home Runs Per Game | Quentin Stuart | 20 | 0 | Jamie Lackner, Wooster | 1 |
| Sacrifice Flies | Quentin Stuart | 27 | 4 | Six players tied | 6 |
TEAM| Category | Rank | Actual | National Leader | Actual |
| Batting Average | 29 | .328 | Salisbury | .371 |
| Scoring | 16 | 8.70 | Salisbury | 11.10 |
| Doubles Per Game | 9 | 2.60 | Concordia-M'head | 3.29 |
| Home Runs Per Game | 4 | 1.05 | Wartburg | 1.19 |
| Home Runs | 11 | 21 | Frostburg St. | 32 |
| Slugging Percentage | 5 | .525 | Salisbury | .550 |
PROBABLE LINEUP HE'S THE BOSSThe longest-tenured head coach at Macalester,
Matt Parrington is in his 16th season as the school's head baseball coach. His career record of 248-333-2 makes him the winningest coach in school history.
Parrington was the 2011 MIAC coach of the year after leading Macalester to the regular-season crown its first MIAC championship in 61 years. He has led the Scots to playoff appearances in 2000 and 2011.
Parrington is a 1991 graduate of Minnesota State University – Mankato, where he earned an undergraduate degree in mass communication and a master's degree in sports administration in 1993. He enjoyed a career as both an outfielder and pitcher and was a member of three North Central Conference championship teams while playing under American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame head coach Dean Bowyer. Following his playing career, he served as a graduate assistant coach with duties as the team's pitching coach.
Parrington came to Macalester from the Milwaukee Brewers front office in the fall of 1996, where he served as a sales manager in the season ticket and group sales office. During his first three years on staff at Macalester he was the associate head coach under his predecessor, Steve Hauser, and served as recruiting coordinator.
During the summer of 2012, Parrington was inducted into the Class A Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame for his on field play with the Minnetonka Millers.
UP NEXTMacalester has another week with three doubleheaders on the schedule next week. Tuesday, they will be at Saint John's for a 2:30 p.m. MIAC doubleheader before returning home for 2:30 p.m. twin bills at Nicholson Field, Thursday versus Bethany Lutheran and Saturday versus Gustavus Adolphus.
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