TUCSON, Ariz. - The Macalester baseball team split a pair of games this afternoon at the Tucson Invitational. The Scots defeated Carthage for a second time this week, 10-6, and then fell to Redlands 15-5. Macalester sits at 5-5 this season.

The Scots got out to an early lead in the first inning, scoring four runs. Junior Matt Odom (Glendale, Calif./St. Francis) hit a sacrifice fly to score first year Nathan Gumagay (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill). Then senior Kenny Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y./George School) had an RBI single to bring home sophomore Hayes Waddell (North Hampton, N.H./Winnacunnet). Sophomore Bowman Wingard (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) followed that up with a 2 RBI double, plating first year Niko Alexander (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) and Rodriguez. Macalester continued to increase its lead in the second. Waddell hit an RBI single to right field, plating senior Anthony Palma (Mooresville, N.C./Lake Norman). Waddell scored off a single from Rodriguez, followed by Alexander scoring off a single from sophomore Jake Murakami (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley). Macalester led 7-0 after two innings.

The Cardinals were able to score one run in the third, but the Scots continued to dominate the game. Rodriguez doubled in the sixth inning to bring home Odom and Alexander to go up 9-1. Both teams scored a run in the seventh, with first year Tristan Jones (Fairfield, Conn./Greens Farms Academy) hitting his first collegiate home run. In the last two innings, the Cardinals scored four runs, but Macalester proved to be too much for Carthage, and the Scots took the win 10-6.

In game two, Macalester went down 4-0 in the top of the first inning. However, the Scots answered back with three runs of their own in the bottom of the first. Rodriguez smashed a 3 RBI double to center field, scoring Odom, Jones, and Gumagay. Both teams scored a run in third. Rodriguez scored after a fielding error by the Redlands' shortstop. Redlands was able to increase their lead to 15-4 over the next three innings. In the bottom of the seventh, sophomore Evan Burns (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) had a single RBI to score Murakami, but the Scots fell 15-5.

Rodriguez went 5-for-7 over both games with seven RBIs and two runs scored. Gumagay went 5-for-8 over both games and scored two runs. 

Macalester will close out its trip down in Tucson tomorrow, Saturday March 18. Macalester will play two games. The first will be at 9:00 a.m. MST/11:00 a.m. CDT against Luther and the second will be against Concordia Wisconsin at 12:30 p.m. MST/2:30 p.m. CDT.