LEESBURG, Fla. – Macalester College head softball coach
Jody Gabriel recorded her 200th career victory as the Scots defeated UW-Stevens Point, 8-0 in five innings at THE Spring Games, held at Sleepy Hollow. Macalester also beat RIT, 6-3 in the second game to improve to 8-4 on the season.
Gabriel, who is in her 10th season overall and sixth season at Macalester, now has a career coaching record of 201-176, including a 93-116 mark as coach of the Scots.
In the milestone win over UW-Stevens Point, first year
Julia Carpenter (Stevensville, Mich./Lakeshore) came home on a bunt by sophomore
Claire O'Connor (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) in the bottom of the first for a 1-0 lead. In the third, O'Connor hit a two-run single and first year
Kaela Jackson (Seattle, Wash./James A. Garfield) singled to score O'Connor to make the score 4-0. O'Connor also drove in two runs in the fourth inning, with junior
Morghan Bean (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) and senior
Nikki Caicedo (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley) also singling in runs in the fourth for an 8-0 advantage.
Sophomore
Sophie Migacz (McHenry, Ill./McHenry West) started in the circle and blanked the Pointers on three hits while striking out four and walking none in four innings. Bean pitched a perfect fifth inning with two strikeouts. Offensively, Carpenter went 3-for-3 with three runs, Jackson and junior
G.G. Gunther (San Francisco, Calif./Lowell) delivered two hits, and O'Connor notched five RBIs.
Against RIT, the Scots scored three runs in the top of the first inning, including a two-run single by O'Connor. RIT came back with two runs in the bottom of the third on a two-run double from Emily Lazarus. In the top of the fifth, Gunther scored an unearned run, with RIT answering with a run in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 4-3. Macalester added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh, with O'Connor and Bean tallying RBI singles. Migacz erased a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh by recording the final two outs to close out the win.
Migacz pitched five innings, giving up an unearned run on six hits while fanning three and walking one to improve to 6-3 on the season. Carpenter was perfect at the plate again, going 4-for-4 with two runs. O'Connor, Gunther and Bean added two hits apiece, while O'Connor drove in three runs for an eight-RBI day.
Macalester wraps up play at THE Spring Games on Friday, Mar. 17 with games against NYU and Sewanee. Both contests will be played at Sleepy Hollow in Leesburg, Fla.
