ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College baseball team saw its season come to an end with a 4-0 loss to St. Thomas in the first round of the MIAC Playoffs Thursday evening at CHS Field. The Scots finish the year with a 21-17 record, while the Tommies (19-16) advance to the double-elimination portion of the tournament on Friday.
Macalester managed just two hits off St. Thomas pitcher Drew Molin, a single by junior
Graham Low (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) in the top of the fourth inning and a double by junior
Sam Goldberg (N. Potomac, Md./Thomas S. Wootton) in the seventh. The Tommies scored twice in the bottom of the first and tallied a pair of insurance runs in the seventh.
Molin went the distance, striking out 11 and walking two in nine innings for the win. Sophomore
Matthew Plisko (Alpharetta, Ga./Pace Academy) suffered his first loss since the season opener, allowing two runs on six hits in two innings. Sophomore
Jacob Simpson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Berkeley Carroll School) pitched five innings of relief and gave up two runs on five hits. Senior
Joe Trier (Madison, Wis./West) pitched a perfect eighth inning with two strikeouts.
The Scots were making their second straight appearance in the MIAC Playoffs after winning the 2017 title and advancing to the program's first NCAA Tournament. The loss also marked the final collegiate game for seniors Trier,
Alex Baretta (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic),
Collin Brantner (Farmington, Conn./Kingswood Oxford),
Ben Castagnetti (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman),
Nick McMullen (Payson, Ariz./Payson) and
Sean O'Brien (Potomac, Md./Landon School).
2018 MIAC Baseball Playoffs, hosted by Hamline University at CHS Field
Thursday, May 10
Game 1: No. 6 Gustavus 5, No. 3 Saint Mary's 2
Game 2: No. 4 St. Thomas 4, No. 5 Macalester 0
Friday, May 11
Game 3: No. 1 Saint John's vs. No. 6 Gustavus, 3:00 p.m.
Game 4: No. 2 Bethel vs. No. 4 St. Thomas, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 12
Game 5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 12:00 p.m.
Game 6: Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 3:30 p.m.
Game 7: Loser of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 13
Game 8: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 7, 11:00 a.m.
Game 9 if necessary, 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 8.
