ST PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College baseball team lost the first game of Round 12, a best-of-3 series with Bethel, 7-4 Friday afternoon at Nicholson Field. The series between the Scots (8-17) and Royals (22-15) will determine who will advance to next week's MIAC Playoffs. The series will conclude on Sunday, May 16 with a doubleheader at Bethel.

Macalester opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning, when junior Lian Lincoln (Anchorage, Alaska/South Anchorage) led off with a single, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on a single by first year Matt Mukai (Foster City, Calif./Aragon) for a 1-0 lead. Meanwhile, senior right-hander Andrew Polk (San Mateo, Calif./St. Ignatius College Prep) held Bethel hitless through 4 1/3 innings despite walking five. With one out in the top of the fifth, Matthew Carlsen singled, stole second and came home on a single by Joey Fredrickson to tie the score at 1-1. Still in the fifth with two out and the bases loaded, Ty Koehn delivered a two-run single for a 3-1 Bethel lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, first year Matt Odom (Glendale, Calif./St. Francis) hit a two-out double then scored on a single by junior Michael Moreno (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa). Sophomore Kenny Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y./George School) followed with a double that plated Moreno and tied the score at 3-3. In the sixth, Lincoln hit a leadoff double and later scored on a single by senior Jack Sahargun (Coto de Caza, Calif./Tesoro) for a 4-3 Macalester lead.

Bethel answered in the top of the seventh with a two-out, two-run double by Marcus Krupke to put the Royals on top, 5-4. Bethel put single runs on the board in the eighth and ninth innings, and the Scots stranded five runners on base over the final three innings to give the Royals a 7-4 win.

Macalester out-hit Bethel, 13-10 but Scots pitchers combined to walk 10 batters. Polk allowed three runs on three hits while walking seven and striking out four in five innings of work. Sophomore Thomas Windels (New York, N.Y./Episcopal) gave up three runs on six hits while walking two and fanning two in three innings to take the loss. Matthew Bohlke earned the win, allowing four runs on 10 hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Krupke earned the save with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

Moreno went 4-for-4 at the plate, while Lincoln and Mukai had three hits apiece.

The two teams will complete the series on Sunday, May 16, with the first game starting at 1:00 p.m. at Bethel. A second game will follow if Macalester wins the 1:00 p.m. game.