DUNDAS, Minn. – The Macalester College softball team recorded a pair of 9-5 victories over Mount Mary University in the season opener for both teams Saturday night in the Dundas Dome. Junior Julia Carpenter (Stevensville, Mich./Lakeshore) totaled six hits and scored six runs in the two wins.

The Scots got on the scoreboard early in the first game with three runs in the bottom of the first inning and four more runs in the second. Sophomore Kennedy Kechely (Rochester, Minn./Mayo) doubled home Carpenter in the first and had an RBI single in the second. Junior Kaela Jackson (Seattle, Wash./James A. Garfield) singled home two runs and senior Claire O'Connor (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) plated Jackson in the second. The Blue Angels responded in the third with a grand slam from Amelia Flint to make the score 7-4 Scots. In the fourth inning, Kechley doubled to score Carpenter, who then brought home sophomore Olive Tambou (San Francisco, Calif./Lowell) with a grounder in the fifth for a 9-4 edge. Mount Mary scored a run in the sixth, but sophomore Audrey Meade (Cedar Hills, Utah/Pleasant Grove) struck out the final two batters in the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh to wrap up the win.

Senior pitcher Sophie Migacz (McHenry, Ill./McHenry West) earned the win, allowing four runs on three hits while striking out eight and walking six in five innings of work. Meade gave up a run on three hits in two innings. Kechely and Carpenter each had three hits, with Kechely driving in three runs.

In Game 2, it was the Blue Angels who started quickly, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning. Aislinn Strusz hit a bases-loaded triple and later scored for a 4-0 lead. Macalester picked away at the lead, scoring a run in the bottom of the first on a grounder by Kechley that plated Carpenter, and two more in the third to make the score 4-3. In the bottom of the fourth, first year Emily Bergin (Houston, Texas/St. Thomas Episcopal School) tripled and came home on a grounder by first year Mackenzie Clarke (Redwood City, Calif./Sequoia) to tie the game at 4-4.

Mount Mary pushed a run across in the top of the sixth to lead 5-4. Macalester responded with a five-run explosion in the bottom of the sixth, with O'Connor hitting a two-run single and sophomore Anya Lindell Paulson (St. Louis Park, Minn./St. Louis Park) singling home Jackson in the inning. Migacz pitched a scoreless seventh inning to close out the win and the sweep.

Carpenter went 3-for-3 at the plate and scored three runs, while Bergin delivered two hits. Sophomore Emily Cekander (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) started and pitched six innings, allowing five runs on eight hits while walking two and striking out three for the victory.

The Scots compete at the ACM Tournament, held at the Rochester Dome Mar. 2-3. Macalester opens the tournament with games against Knox and Northwestern on Mar. 2.