ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College softball team lost a pair of MIAC games to the College of Saint Benedict, 15-5 and 18-2 Sunday afternoon at the Macalester Softball Complex. The losses ended an eight-game winning streak for the Scots, who are now 20-8 overall and 7-3 in the conference. The Bennies improve to 14-12, 9-1 MIAC. The teams entered the day tied for first in the MIAC standings.

In the first game, Saint Benedict jumped out to an early lead on a two-run home run by Olivia Tautges in the top of the first inning. Macalester answered in the bottom of the first, with first year Callia Holland (Akron, Ohio/Hawken) hitting a bases-loaded single that brought home junior Renee Nicholson (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) to make the score 2-1. In the top of the third, the Bennies broke the game open with eight runs, punctuated by Tori Benson's three-run homer, to lead 10-1. Two more runs in the top of the fourth made it 12-1 before the Scots pushed four runs across in the bottom of the fourth. Senior Mandy Morrical (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon) doubled home Holland, then senior Elsa Church (St. Louis, Mo./Kirkwood) tripled to score Morrical and first year Tess Bojorquez (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente). Junior Sophie Futchko (Prince Frederick, Md./Huntingtown) brought Church home with a single to make the score 12-5. Saint Ben's added three runs in the top of the seventh to wrap up the win. Futchko and Welch had two hits apiece to lead Macalester.

Things started similarly in Game 2 with the Bennies scoring a run in the first inning and two more in the second for a 3-0 lead. Macalester registered six hits in the first four innings but were unable to score, as Saint Ben's tallied three runs in the top of the fourth and two in the fifth to lead, 8-0. In the bottom of the fifth with the Scots needing a run to extend the game, Nicholson led off with a walk, first year Elizabeth Welch (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North) followed with a single and first year Alli Johnson (Waukee, Iowa/Northwest) bunted the runners over. Senior Emily Pedersen (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson) plated the first runs of the game for the Scots with a two-run double to make the score 8-2. That's all the offense Macalester could muster, as Saint Benedict scored 10 runs in the sixth to close out the win. Johnson, Holland and Morrical each had two hits.

Macalester returns to action on Wednesday, April 17 with a MIAC doubleheader at Gustavus. The first pitch is set for 3:30 p.m. in St. Peter, Minn.