ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College softball team closed out the 2017 season with a split against St. Olaf College, losing the first game, 5-2 before winning Game 2, 3-2 in 11 innings. The Scots finish the year 19-21 overall and 7-15 in conference play, while the Oles are now 24-12, 13-7 MIAC.

In the first game, St. Olaf scored twice in the top of the third to take an early lead. Macalester answered in the bottom of the third, with first year Julia Carpenter (Stevensville, Mich./Lakeshore) scoring on a grounder by first year Kaela Jackson (Seattle, Wash./James A. Garfield). The Oles took advantage of two Scots' errors in the top of the fourth, scoring three unearned runs to lead, 5-1. A single by sophomore Samantha Barkan (New York, N.Y./Friends Seminary) in the bottom of the fourth plated sophomore Claire O'Connor (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont). But that is all the offense Macalester would get, as Oles' pitcher Julie Graf held the Scots without a run over the final three innings.

Carpenter and junior G.G. Gunther (San Francisco, Calif./Lowell) each had two hits for Macalester. Junior pitcher Morghan Bean (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) gave up five unearned runs on six hits while walking five and striking out five in seven innings.

The Scots struck first in the second game, as senior Nikki Caicedo (Clinton Twp.,Mich./Chippewa Valley) blasted a home run to left in her final game for a 1-0 lead. Jackson drove in Carpenter with a single in the bottom of the third to put Macalester on top, 2-0. St. Olaf loaded the bases in the top of the sixth, but Bean held the Oles to one run on a groundout. Then in the seventh, St. Olaf advanced a runner to third with one out. An error on a pickoff attempt allowed the tying run to score, sending the game to extra innings.

The Oles' best chance to score came in the 10th, when a runner attempted to score from second on a single by Kristina Lodahl. But Carpenter's throw from centerfield was perfect, and Caicedo applied the tag to keep the game tied. The teams used the international tie-breaker in the 11th, putting a runner on second to start the inning. After St. Olaf moved the runner to third without an out, Bean retired the next three batters on two groundouts and a pop-up to second. In Macalester's half of the 11th, Carpenter was placed on second and was bunted to third by Gunther. Jackson followed with a walk-off single through the left side, scoring Carpenter with the game-winning run and ending the season in dramatic fashion.

Jackson, who drove in Carpenter three times on the day, went 2-for-4 in the second game. Bean allowed two runs, one earned, on 11 hits while fanning five and walking three in 11 innings. She threw over 300 pitches in the two games combined.

The games marked the final contests for Caicedo, as well as juniors Gunther and Natalie Platt (Boulder, Colo./Boulder), who are graduating early.