ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College softball team welcomed Saint Mary's University to their home field this afternoon for the Scots final MIAC doubleheader this season. After getting down 15-0 to the Cardinals in game one, the Scots rallied, scoring 15 runs in the final four innings before falling 18-15 in final scoring. In a much quicker game two, Macalester fell 5-1 as St. Mary's completed the sweep.
 
The Scots drop to 19-18 overall and 7-13 in the MIAC. St. Mary's improves to 16-16 overall and 10-10 in conference action.
 
Game One: St. Mary's 18, Macalester 15
 
In a game comprised of 33 total runs, 30 hits and five errors, the Scots had to be proud of their effort even after falling three runs shy in the 2 hour and 35 minute contest.
 
After three complete innings of play, Macalester trailed the Cardinals, 4-0. It was in the top of the fourth inning that things got interesting. St. Mary's scored 11 runs on seven hits and one Macalester error to take a 15-0 lead.
 
The Scots kept finding ways to stay in the game; their efforts initially boosted by four straight hits to start off the bottom of the fifth inning by Miranda Stokes, Hali Englert, Nikki Caicedo and an RBI single by Morghan Bean. To follow that up, a grand slam was hit by first year outfielder, Lisa Semro to give Macalester five runs in the inning.
 
Macalester's power hitting wasn't finished. Brittany Ehmann hit a three-RBI home run in the bottom of the sixth and Hali Englert crushed a three-RBI home run in the seventh.
 
The Scots came up three runs shy, as the Cardinals were able to score one run in each of the final three innings. Macalester collected 14 hits in the game; St. Mary's finished with 16. The Scots had four errors to the Cardinals one.
 
Hali Englert and Lisa Semro led the way offensively for the Scots, each posting three hits in the game. Semro collected a season-best five RBI's. Miranda Stokes, Nikki Caicedo and Morgan Bean each finished with two hits.
 
Brittany Ehmann started on the mound for the Scots and pitched three innings before being relieved by Bean. Bean went two complete before Ehmann returned to finish the final two. Ehmann gave up nine hits, walked four and struck out seven in the loss, her record moving to 9-9 this season.
 
Game Two: St. Mary's 5, Macalester 1
 
Both teams seemed to settle in during game two as the Cardinals led just 2-0 after four complete innings. St. Mary's put two more runs on the board in the top of the fifth and one in the seventh.
 
It wasn't until the bottom of seven that Macalester was able to tack one on. In her last at bat at the Macalester Softball Complex, Ehmann crushed a home run over the left field fence to bring the score to 5-1. Lisa Semro followed up with a single, however, the Cardinals were able to retire the next three straight batters to end the game.
 
The Scots collected just six hits in the game; the Cardinals finished with nine. Brittany Ehmann led the way, securing two hits. Abby Cox, Lisa Semro, Erin Slater and G.G. Gunther each added one hit for Macalester.
 
Miranda Stokes started on the mound and pitched seven complete innings. She gave up nine hits, but just two earned runs, as the Scots were again plagued with four errors. Stokes' record falls to 8-9 this season. Ashley Betzold recorded both wins on the mound for St. Mary's today.
 
Macalester will return to action on Saturday, April 25 when they take on St. Catherine University in a doubleheader slated for 1 and 3 p.m. at the Wildcats home field for their final games of the 2015 season.