MANKATO, Minn. – The Macalester College softball team started the 2023 season with victories over Bethany Lutheran and North Central University Sunday afternoon at the MSU Dome in Mankato. The Scots totaled 31 hits and 26 runs in beating Bethany Lutheran 6-3 and NCU 19-0.

Against Bethany Lutheran, Macalester struck first, scoring a run in the top of the third inning on a single by junior Elsa Church (St. Louis, Mo./Kirkwood) that plated sophomore Madeleine Kemper (Sioux Falls, S.D./Lincoln). After the Vikings scored twice in the bottom of the third, junior Mandy Morrical (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon) hit a two-out, two-run double to bring home senior Regan Brodine (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) and sophomore Sophie Futchko (Prince Frederick, Md./Huntingtown) in the top of the fifth for a 3-2 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Haley Stockman tied the score with a solo home run. In the top of the seventh, the Scots loaded the bases on two walks and a single by Brodine. Morrical was hit by a pitch, bringing the go-ahead run home from third. With two out, senior Emily Bergin (Houston, Texas/St. Thomas Episcopal School) singled to score Morrical and senior Jessica Katzin (Chicago, Ill./Jones College Prep) for a 6-3 lead. Sophomore Kaitlyn Pistorius (Parker, Colo./Legend) retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh to close out the win.

Pistorius gave up three runs on eight hits while striking out six and walking five in a complete-game victory. Brodine and Bergin each had three hits, while Church and Kemper registered two hits apiece.

In the day's second game against North Central, the Scots scored a run in the first inning, then exploded for seven runs in the second, two more in the third and nine in the fourth. Macalester scored 19 runs on 19 hits, with Morrical going 3-for-3 with a double, a triple, three runs scored and three runs batted in. First year Fiona Candland (San Francisco, Calif./Lowell) also drove in three runs, while Church and junior Emily Pedersen (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson) each had three hits. Futchko and Bergin also had two hits apiece.

First year pitchers Maddie Molay (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) and Kara Jensen (Elmhurst, Ill./York) Church combined with Church to toss a one-hit shutout. Molay and Jensen each pitched two innings, while Church pitched a scoreless fifth inning.

Macalester returns to Mankato next Sunday, Feb. 26 to face Bethany Lutheran and Luther College in a pair of non-conference games.