MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Macalester College baseball team kicked off the 2017 campaign with a doubleheader sweep of the University of Northwestern early Tuesday morning at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Scots, who won by scores of 10-7 and 6-2, were 17-18 last season. The Eagles are now 0-3.

In Game 1, Macalester jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, with junior Collin Brantner (Farmington, Conn./Kingswood Oxford) and senior Quentin Stuart (Nashville, Ind./Nashville) driving in runs. Northwestern answered in the bottom of the second with three runs on three walks, an error, a hit batsman and a sacrifice fly to take a 3-2 lead.  In the top of the third, the Scots put together four hits, including an RBI triple from sophomore Jared Abelson (Herndon, Va./South Lakes), in a three-run inning for a 5-3 advantage. Macalester scored three more runs in the fourth, punctuated by an RBI double from junior Nick McMullen (Payson, Ariz./Payson), to make the score 8-3.

A pair of unearned runs in the sixth put the Scots on top 10-3. The Eagles made a game of it late, scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth and getting a two-run homer from Tyler Osborn in the bottom of the seventh. But senior pitcher Doug Lewis (Duluth, Minn./Marshall) shut the door with runners on first and second, recording a strikeout and a groundout to end the game.

Sophomore right-hander Cole Chang (Pleasantville, N.Y./Collegiate School) allowed just one hit and one earned run while walking three and striking out three in four innings of work for the win. Lewis earned the save with a scoreless inning.

Macalester took an early lead in the second game by scoring runs in the first and fourth innings for a 2-0 edge. The Eagles cut the lead in half with a run in the fifth and had the bases loaded with two out. But first year pitcher Matthew Plisko (Alpharetta, Ga./Pace Academy) induced a fly ball to end the threat.  In the bottom of the fifth, Stuart singled home sophomore Graham Low (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont), and junior Alex Baretta (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) hit a two-run single to put the Scots ahead, 5-1. Both teams scored in the sixth, with first year Alex Bearden (St. Louis, Mo./Mary Institute Country Day) plating sophomore Sam Goldberg (North Potomac, Md./Thomas S. Wootton) with a single for a 6-2 lead.

Plisko pitched three innings of relief, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits to pick up his first collegiate win. McMullen pitched a perfect seventh inning in relief. Senior Dylan Edwards-Gaherty (New York, N.Y./American Studies) started and did not allow a run on two hits while walking five and fanning two in three innings of work. Abelson and McMullen each registered four hits in the two victories.

The Scots return to U.S. Bank Stadium on Monday, Mar. 6 for a doubleheader against Robert Morris College of Chicago. The first game starts at 11:15 a.m. in Minneapolis.