COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – With a 5-1 victory over Saint John's University in Game 1, the Macalester College baseball team secured a spot in the MIAC Playoffs, splitting a doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at Becker Park. The Scots, who lost Game 2, 5-4 in 10 innings, finish the regular season with a 23-15 record, including a 12-8 mark in league play. Saint John's (23-11, 12-6 MIAC) needs to win one of its final two games against Concordia College to make the playoffs.

Macalester returns to the MIAC Playoffs for the first time since the 2011 squad won the MIAC regular-season title.

The Scots hit three home runs in the first game, including a two-run shot by sophomore Graham Low (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) in the top of the second inning. After Saint John's cut the lead in half with an unearned run in the bottom of the second, juniors Alex Baretta (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) and Collin Brantner (Farmington, Conn./Kingswood Oxford) hit solo home runs in the top of the fifth for a 4-1 advantage. Then in the sixth, the Scots added another run on a single by sophomore Jared Abelson (Herndon, Va./South Lakes) that plated Low to make the score 5-1.

Senior right-hander Dylan Edwards-Gaherty (New York, N.Y./American Studies) did the rest, holding the Johnnies to an unearned run on four hits while walking two and striking out two in a complete-game, seven-inning effort. Edwards-Gaherty is now 5-1 on the season. Low went 2-for-3 with a homer, two runs and two runs batted in. First year Carl Francalangia (West Hartford, Conn./Loomis-Chaffee) also had two hits.

In the second game, Macalester took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly from junior Nick McMullen (Payson, Ariz./Payson) that brought home Baretta. Saint John's tied the score in the bottom of the third on a groundout that allowed Wyatt Ulrich to score from third. In the top of the sixth, sophomore Sam Goldberg (N. Potomac, Md./Thomas S. Wootton) singled home junior Ben Castagnetti (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman), later scoring on a single by Abelson to put the Scots on top, 3-1.

After getting a run in the bottom of the sixth, Saint John's scored twice in the seventh to take the lead, 4-3. Macalester pulled even in the top of the ninth, with McMullen singling to score Baretta. In the bottom of the 10th, Thomas Meland led off with a single, moved to second on a bunt and scored the game-winning run on a single by Michael Gruber.

The Scots pounded out 14 hits and drew five walks, but they stranded 14 runners. Baretta led the way with three hits, while Brantner, Castagnetti, Goldberg and senior Quentin Stuart (Nashville, Ind./Nashville) had two hits apiece. Junior Joe Trier (Madison, Wis./West) started and gave up two runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings. Senior Anson Justi (Columbia, Md./McDonogh School) had another effective relief outing, tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings while giving up one hit.

The split means Macalester will be the No. 4 seed in the MIAC Playoffs and will face the No. 1 seed on Thursday, May 11 at Becker Park in Collegeville, Minn. St. Thomas leads second-place Bethel by one game with two games to play.