ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College softball team played its first and last doubleheader of the season on its home field on Wednesday, losing to 20th-ranked Saint Benedict, 14-3 and 9-3 at the Macalester Softball Complex. The Scots, who hosted a pair of MIAC doubleheaders on the turf field in the stadium last weekend, fall to 10-26 overall and 4-14 in the conference. The Blazers improve to 26-6, 13-3 MIAC.

In Game 1, Saint Benedict put four runs on the board in the top of the first inning. Macalester pushed a run across in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly from junior Samantha Barkan (New York, N.Y./Friends Seminary) that brought home senior Katja McKiernan (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount). Then in the third, senior Vivi Gregorich (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) doubled to score senior Morghan Bean (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) and sophomore Julia Carpenter (Stevensville, Mich./Lakeshore) to make it a one-run game, 4-3. But the Blazers struck for 10 runs in the fifth and sixth innings combined, including seven in the top of the sixth, to cruise to a 14-3 win.

In the second game, St. Ben's again tallied four runs in the top of the first inning for an early advantage. In the bottom of the first, juniors Claire O'Connor (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) and Sophie Migacz (McHenry, Ill./McHenry West) each delivered RBI singles to cut the deficit in half, 4-2. After the Blazers scored twice in the top of the second, Bean hit a sacrifice fly that brought home first year Kate Bond (St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul Academy) in the bottom of the second. But St. Ben's tacked on three more runs in the top of the third and held the Scots scoreless the rest of the way to earn the sweep. First year pitcher Emily Cekander (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) allowed three unearned runs on four hits in 5 2/3 innings of relief.

Macalester continues MIAC play with a doubleheader at Hamline University on Friday, Apr. 27. The first game starts at 3:30 p.m. in St. Paul, Minn.