ROSEMOUNT, Minn. – The Macalester College softball team opened the 2017 season with a pair of shutout victories over Bethany Lutheran College Wednesday night at the Irish Dome. The Scots won the first game, 8-0 in six innings before completing the sweep with a 10-0 win in five innings.

In Game 1, Macalester pushed four runs across in the bottom of the first inning, with junior G.G. Gunther (San Francisco, Calif./Lowell) and sophomore Claire O'Connor (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) driving in runs. Then in the third, O'Connor hit a ground-rule double to plate senior Nikki Caicedo (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley) for a 5-0 lead. The Scots scored an unearned run in the fourth, then first year Kaela Jackson (Seattle, Wash./James A. Garfield) tripled home senior Natalie Platt (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) to make the score 7-0. Gunther ended the game in the sixth with a single that scored first year Julia Carpenter (Stevensville, Mich./Lakeshore).

Macalester pitchers combined for a three-hit shutout, with sophomore Sophie Migacz (McHenry, Ill./McHenry West) starting and allowing one hit while striking out seven and walking one in four innings. Sophomore Makaya Resner (Missoula, Mont./Loyola Sacred Heart) pitched two scoreless innings and gave up two hits. Carpenter, Gunther and O'Connor each had two hits to lead the offense.

The Scots carried momentum into Game 2, scoring six runs in the first inning. Caicedo hit a two-run double, with Platt, junior Morghan Bean (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) and sophomore Samantha Barkan (New York, N.Y./Friends Seminary) singling home runs. In the second inning, Jackson doubled home Bean for a 7-0 lead. Then in the fourth, O'Connor and Jackson hit back-to-back RBI doubles, with Barkan singling home Jackson for a 10-0 advantage.

Migacz pitched a scoreless first inning before giving way to Bean, who allowed just one hit while striking out two and walking one in four innings of work. Bean also was 4-for-4 with a double and three runs at the plate. Jackson was 3-for-3 with two doubles, while Barkan drove in three runs.

The Scots play a pair of non-conference games against Grinnell and Dubuque on Saturday, Mar. 4 at the Rochester Dome in Rochester, Minn.