ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College baseball team closed out the regular season with a pair of MIAC losses to Concordia College, 3-1 and 10-8 Monday afternoon at Nicholson Field. The Scots (21-16), who had already clinched a spot in the MIAC Playoffs prior to today's doubleheader, end conference play with an 11-9 record. The Cobbers (17-18), fell just short of a playoff berth with a 10-10 MIAC record to finish seventh.

Macalester will be the fifth seed and face fourth-seeded St. Thomas in the first round on Thursday, May 10 at 7:00 p.m. All playoff games will be played at CHS Field in St. Paul, Minn.

In Game 1, Concordia pushed three runs across in the fourth inning on three hits, and error, a walk and a hit-batsman for a 3-0 lead. Junior Graham Low (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) led off the sixth inning with a home run, his team-leading seventh of the season, but that's all the offense the Scots could generate. Low ended up going 3-for-3, while senior Nick McMullen (Payson, Ariz./Payson) had a pair of hits. Senior pitcher Joe Trier (Madison, Wis./West) started and held the Cobbers hitless over three innings of work in a no-decision. Alex Erickson limited Macalester to a run on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings to earn the win.

In the second game, junior Sam Goldberg (N. Potomac, Md./Thomas S. Wooton) doubled home McMullen in the second inning and Low singled to plate senior Alex Baretta (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) in the third to put the Scots up, 2-0. But Concordia sent 15 players to the plate in a 10-run, seven-hit, three-error third inning to take a commanding 10-2 lead. Macalester battled back with three runs in the fifth, another in the sixth and two more in the seventh on a two-run single by senior Collin Brantner (Farmington, Conn./Kingswood Oxford). With Brantner at first and the tying run at the plate, reliever Adam Nibaur retired the final batter to close out the win.

Goldberg went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, while junior Jared Abelson (Herndon, Va./South Lakes) was 3-for-3 with a double. Baretta, Low and Brantner had two hits apiece, as the Scots left 12 runners on base in Game 2.

Macalester will attempt to defend its 2017 MIAC Playoff title this week, starting with Thursday's elimination-round game with St. Thomas. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at CHS Field.