ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College baseball team defeated the University of St. Thomas, 9-3 before losing the second game, 4-1 in a MIAC doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at Koch Diamond. The Scots are now 8-7 overall and 2-2 in conference play, while the Tommies are 11-4, 3-1 MIAC.
In the first game, Macalester answered a St. Thomas run in the bottom of the first inning with six runs in the top of the second. Senior
Graham Low (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) delivered a two-run double, with senior
Sam Goldberg (North Potomac, Md./Thomas S. Wootton), junior
Carl Francalangia (West Hartford, Conn./The Loomis-Chaffee School), sophomore
Leonardo Bucello (Bethesda, Md./Walter Johnson) and first year
Michael Moreno (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) also driving in runs in the inning. Moreno plated first year
Soren Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./The Blake School) with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth, then doubled home Bucello in the sixth for a 9-1 lead. Roe also scored in the sixth on a wild pitch.
Sophomore pitcher
Alex Denzler (New York, N.Y./Trevor Day School) tossed a gem, limiting the Tommie bats to three runs on five hits while walking three and striking out five in seven innings. The complete-game effort improved Denzler's record to 2-0 on the season. Offensively, Roe, the reigning MIAC Athlete of the Week, went 3-for-5 with three runs, while Moreno and Low each had a pair of hits.
The Scots started off Game 2 with a run in the top of the first inning, as first year
Anthony Palma (Mooresville, N.C./Lake Norman) came home on an infield single by Goldberg. St. Thomas answered with a run in the bottom of the third, another in the fifth and two more in the sixth for a 4-1 lead. Three of the runs were unearned, as Macalester committed errors in the fifth and sixth innings. The Scots managed just two hits after the third inning, as the Tommies earned the split.
Low and Palma led the Macalester bats with two hits apiece. Senior
Thomas Shogren (Woodbury, Minn./Minnehaha Academy) had a solid outing on the mound, allowing four runs, one earned, on seven hits while fanning three and walking one in 5 2/3 innings. Sophomore
Andrew Polk (San Mateo, Calif./St. Ignatius College Prep) tossed two shutout innings of relief.
Macalester plays its home opener on Saturday, Apr. 6 against Concordia College. The MIAC doubleheader begins at 1:00 p.m. at Nicholson Field.
