TUCSON, Ariz. – Three Scots hit home runs, as the Macalester College baseball team defeated Buena Vista University, 18-10 Friday morning at the Tucson Invitational. The Scots improve to 7-5 on the season, while the Beavers drop to 1-6.

Junior Jared Abelson (Herndon, Va./South Lakes) started the game off for Macalester with a leadoff home run in the top of the first inning. Buena Vista answered with a solo homer in the bottom of the first and two runs in the second to lead 3-1. The Scots tied it up in the third, when senior Nick McMullen (Payson, Ariz./Payson) tripled home Abelson and later came home on a grounder by junior Graham Low (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont). Then in the fifth, Low, senior Collin Brantner (Farmington, Conn./Kingswood Oxford), junior Sam Goldberg (N. Potomac, Md./Thomas S. Wootton) and sophomore Carl Francalangia (West Hartford, Conn./The Loomis-Chaffee School) each drove in runs to make the score 7-3 Macalester.

After the Beavers pushed three runs across in the fifth to cut the lead to 7-6, the Scots broke the game open with 11 runs in the top of the sixth. McMullen started the scoring with a three-run blast to left, and Brantner ended it with a two-run shot to right-centerfield. Sophomore Alex Bearden (St. Louis, Mo./Mary Institute Country Day) hit a two-run double, while Goldberg, Abelson and senior Alex Baretta (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) also had RBIs in the inning, as the Scots sent 14 batters to the plate.

Abelson and McMullen were both a double away from hitting for the cycle, with Abelson recording four runs and two RBIs, and McMullen scoring three runs with four RBIs. Brantner and Goldberg also had three hits apiece, while Baretta had a triple and scored three runs. The Scots finished with 18 hits, while Buena Vista tallied 16 hits in the loss.

First year pitcher Andrew Polk (San Mateo, Calif./St. Ignatius College Prep) earned his second collegiate victory, allowing six runs on eight hits while striking out six and walking four in five innings of work. First year Kieran Liming (Alpharetta, Ga./South Forsyth) fanned four batters in three innings of relief, while sophomore Ethan Moskul (Chicago, Ill./Northside College Prep) struck out two in one inning.

Macalester concludes its Arizona trip with a doubleheader against Concordia-Wisconsin on Saturday, Mar. 17. The first game starts at 9:00 a.m. Pacific at the Kino Sports Complex.