MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Macalester College baseball team opened the 2023 season tonight with a pair of games against the University of Minnesota-Morris at U.S Bank Stadium. The Scots lost the first game, 8-1 and won game two 7-4. Macalester starts the season 1-1.
 
In game one, Macalester went down 4-0 in the first two innings. The Scots would pull one back in the bottom of the second. First year Nathan Gumagay (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) registered an RBI single in his collegiate debut, bringing home junior Matt Mukai (Foster City, Calif./Aragon). However, the Cougars were able to maintain their lead, and defeat Macalester 8-1. Mukai went 1-for-2 with a hit and a run.
 
The Scots started off game two strong with two runs in the first inning. Sophomore Hayes Waddell (North Hampton, N.H./Winnacunnet) smashed an RBI double through the right side to bring home first year Tristan Jones (Fairfield, Conn./Greens Farms Academy). Then sophomore Evan Burns (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) registered a sacrifice fly to score Waddell. The Cougars tied the game back up in the bottom of the first and took a 3-2 lead in the second. The Scots regained the lead at the top of the fourth with a 2 RBI double from first year Niko Alexander (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman), plating Burns and sophomore Jake Murakami (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) for a 4-3 lead. Alexander's two RBI's were the start of a five run inning for the Scots. First year Evan Kang (Sherman Oaks, Calif./Village Christian) hit an RBI single to bring home fellow first year Tommy Ball (Wayne, Pa./The Shipley School). Alexander stole home and Kang came home on a wild pitch to lead 7-3 after the fourth. The Cougars would earn a run in the seventh, but strong pitching from seniors Thomas Windels (New York, N.Y./Episcopal) and Peter Aspholm (Winthrop, Wash./Liberty Bell) led the Scots to victory.
 
Macalester totaled 17 strikeouts in game two. Windels pitched for three innings totaling six strikeouts while Aspholm struck out nine batters in the last three innings to secure victory. Waddell went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run. Murakami was also 2-for-3 with a run.
 
Macalester's next doubleheader will be Saturday March 11. The Scots head to Tucson, Ariz. For the Tucson Invitational. Macalester will play Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges at 4:00 p.m. CST/3:00 p.m. MST.