ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College baseball team began MIAC play with a doubleheader against Carleton College, falling 1-0 and 9-7 Sunday afternoon at Nicholson Field. The Scots are now 8-4 overall on the season, while the Knights improve to 5-14.

In the first game, Carleton's Austin Heuer provided all the offense, blasting a solo home run over the left field fence in the top of the second inning. Macalester put runners in scoring position in five of seven innings but could not get the key hit. The best chance came in the fourth, as a double by junior Quentin Stuart (Nashville, Ind./Indiana Academy) put runners on second and third with no outs. After a groundout, senior Sam Berk (Miami, Fla./Palmer Trinity School) attempted to score from third on a fly ball to center by senior Jonathan Melms (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran). But the Knights threw out Berk to preserve the lead.

Junior Sam Thomas (Kansas City, Mo./Pembroke Hill) had a strong outing, allowing one run on four hits while striking out a career-high 12 batters and walking two in a seven-inning, complete-game effort. Jack Violetta was just as effective for Carleton, blanking the Scots on five hits for the win.

The bats woke up for Game 2, with the teams combining for 21 hits and 16 runs. The Knights struck first and led 7-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth. Sophomore Ben Castagnetti (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) and Melms drove in runs in the fifth to make the score 7-3. In the sixth, Macalester loaded the bases with two out for junior Peter Bertel (Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest), who cleared the bases with a double to right. Castagnetti followed with a single that plated Bertel with the game-tying run.

Carleton responded in the top of the seventh, capitalizing on an error to score two runs on a single by Jack Atterberry for a 9-7 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, the Scots loaded the bases with no outs on a walk, an error and a hit-batsman. But Carleton pitcher Ben Frerichs induced three straight ground balls to end the threat. First year Jared Abelson (Herndon, Va./South Lakes) led off the ninth with a single, but a strikeout and two ground balls ended the game.

Junior Brendan O'Connor (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) tossed 4 1/3 innings in relief of senior starter Joseph Aulisi (McLean, Va./Langley), allowing four runs, two earned, to take the loss. Sophomore Joe Trier (Madison, Wis./West) pitched two perfect innings with four strikeouts. Heuer picked up the win on the mound for the Knights, with Cody Bohlman earning the save.

Macalester continues MIAC play with a home doubleheader against Hamline University on Wednesday, Apr. 6. The first game starts at 2:30 p.m. at Nicholson Field.