ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College softball team closed the regular season with a split with Carleton Sunday afternoon at the Macalester Softball Complex. The Scots, who lost the first game, 3-2 before winning 9-8 in the second game, are now 15-23 overall and 9-13 in the conference. The Knights are 19-16, 7-13 MIAC.

In the first game, Macalester answered two runs by Carleton in the top of the third inning with a run in the bottom of the third. First year Sophie Futchko (Prince Frederick, Md./Huntingtown) led off the inning with a triple and later scored on a single by junior Regan Brodine (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny). Then in the fifth, sophomore Elsa Church (St. Louis, Mo./Kirkland) drove in Futchko with a single to tie the score at 2-2. The Knights scored the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh to lead 3-2. In the bottom of the seventh, the Scots put runners on first and second with one out, but a groundout and a flyout ended the threat and the game.

Church went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while senior Mackenzie Clarke (Redwood City, Calif./Sequoia) had two hits. Her hit in the seventh was the 100th hit of her career. First year Kaitlyn Pistorius (Parker, Colo./Legend) went the distance in the circle, allowing three runs on 10 hits while striking out six and walking three.

Carleton put three runs on the board in the top of the first inning of Game 2 to take control early. After two scoreless innings, Macalester broke through in the bottom of the third. Senior Anna Leidner (New York, N.Y./Bronx Science) roped a double to left-center for her first career hit in nine at bats. Futchko doubled home Leidner and then scored on an infield single by Clarke. Brodine followed with a double that brought home Clarke, then junior Jessica Katzin (Chicago, Ill./Jones College Prep) blasted a deep home run to left for a 5-3 lead. The Scots weren't done in the third, as first year Renee Nicholson (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. Senior Emily Bergin (Houston, Texas/St. Thomas Episcopal School) singled home Nicholson for a 6-3 lead.

The Knights scored twice in the top of the fourth, but Macalester scored a run in the bottom of the fourth on a single by Clarke that plated Futchko for a 7-5 edge. Then in the sixth, a single by Katzin brought home first year Dorri Amundson (San Francisco, Calif./The Bay School of San Francisco). Katzin advanced to third on the throw and an error, then scored on a single by Nicholson to make the score 9-5. Carleton scored three times in the top of the seventh, but Macalester held on to earn the win and the split.

The Scots pounded out 15 hits, with Brodine going 3-for-4 and Leidner, Futchko, Clarke, Katzin and Nicholson registering two hits apiece in the win. Church came on in relief of Pistorius in the third and allowed five runs on five hits while striking out two and walking three in five innings.

Before the game, the team honored its graduating seniors Clarke and Leidner.

Macalester is still mathematically eligible to earn a top-six place and a spot in the MIAC Playoffs.