ST. PAUL, Minn. - Junior
Alex Baretta (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth that scored the game-winning run in a 9-8 victory over the University of St. Thomas in Game 2 Monday afternoon at Nicholson Field. The win allowed Macalester College to split a MIAC doubleheader with the Tommies to improve to 16-10 overall and 6-4 in the conference, while St. Thomas is now 15-10, 8-2 MIAC.
With the Scots trailing 8-6 in the bottom of the eighth, sophomore
Graham Low (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) blasted a two-run home run to left to tie the score at 8-8. In the top of the ninth, the Tommies put two runners on base with one out. But junior
Nick McMullen (Payson, Ariz./Payson) induced a ground ball that senior
Quentin Stuart (Nashville, Ind./Nashville) and first year
Carl Francalangia (West Hartford, Conn./Loomis-Chaffee) turned into an inning-ending double play.
Francalangia led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk, then moved to second on a bunt by sophomore
Jared Abelson (Herndon, Va./South Lakes). With first year
Liam Edwards-Gaherty (New York, N.Y./Hunter College HS) running for Francalangia, Baretta drove a two-strike pitch into centerfield to plate Edwards-Gaherty with the game-winning run. It was the second hit of the game for Baretta, who also had a double. Stuart hit two home runs in the victory, including a two-run shot in the sixth inning. He was 3-for-4 with three runs and four runs batted in.
The win snapped a 15-game losing streak to St. Thomas, dating back to a 5-2 Scots victory on Apr. 13, 2010.
In the first game, St. Thomas used a four-run second inning and a five-run fourth inning to cruise to a 13-6 win. Stuart hit a two-run double in the second, while McMullen, senior
Alex Dash (New York, N.Y./Columbia Grammar and Prep), junior
Collin Brantner (Farmington, Conn./Kingswood Oxford) and first year
Nathan Levinson (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) also drove in runs. McMullen and Baretta each had two hits in Game 1.
Macalester looks to keep pace in the MIAC race with a doubleheader against Gustavus on Wednesday, Apr. 19, beginning at 2:30 p.m. at Nicholson Field.
