ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Macalester College softball team dropped a pair of MIAC games to ninth-ranked Bethel, 12-1 and 10-0 Thursday afternoon at Ona Orth Athletic Complex. The Scots fall to 13-20 overall and 5-12 in the conference, while the Royals (25-3) remain unbeaten in the MIAC at 14-0.

Bethel set the tone early in Game 1, scoring nine runs on six hits and four walks in the bottom of the first inning. The Royals added three runs in the fourth before the Scots tallied a run in the top of the fifth. Senior Jessica Katzin (Chicago, Ill./Jones College Prep) hit a two-out double and advanced to third on a dropped third strike that would have ended the game. A wild pitch allowed Katzin to come home from third for Macalester's only run of the day. Katzin, senior Emily Bergin (Houston, Texas/St. Thomas Episcopal School) and sophomore Renee Nicholson (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) had the Scots' hits.

Bethel scored nine runs in an inning again in the second game, this time in the second inning on nine hits. Another run in the bottom of the third made the score 10-0. Macalester put runners on base in four out of the five innings but was unable to score a run. Nicholson, senior Regan Brodine (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny), junior Mandy Morrical (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon) and sophomore Sophie Futchko (Prince Frederick, Md./Huntingtown) had hits for the Scots.

Next up for Macalester is a conference doubleheader at Carleton on Saturday, April 29. The first game is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. in Northfield.