ST. PAUL, Minn. – After losing the first game and trailing 3-0 in Game 2, the Macalester College softball team fought back to take the second game, 5-3 and split a MIAC twin bill with Saint Mary's University Tuesday afternoon at the Macalester Softball Complex. The Scots are now 25-11 overall and 12-6 in the conference, while the Cardinals move to 25-9, 13-4 MIAC.

In the first game, Saint Mary's scored a run in each of the first three innings, then put three runs on the board in the top of the fourth for a 6-0 lead. Macalester used the long ball in the bottom of the fourth to get back in the game, with first years Elizabeth Welch (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North) and Callia Holland (Akron, Ohio/Hawken) hitting two-run home runs to make the score 6-4. But that's all the offense the Scots could muster, as the Cardinals pushed two runs across in the sixth before a seven-run seventh inning put the game out of reach, 15-4. Holland and junior Renee Nicholson (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) each had two hits in the loss.

Momentum stayed with the visitors in the second game, as Saint Mary's took a 3-0 lead with three runs in the top of the third inning. In the bottom of the third, senior Mandy Morrical (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon) singled and later came home on an error to make the score 3-1. Then in the fourth, Macalester loaded the bases with a lead-off double by Nicholson, a walk by Welch and a single by senior Emily Pedersen (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson). Holland followed with a double to left-centerfield to plate Nicholson and Welch and tie the score. A grounder by first year Tess Bojorquez (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) allowed Pedersen to score the go-ahead run, then Morrical hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Holland for a 5-3 advantage.

Solid pitching kept the Cardinals off the scoreboard the rest of the way. Bojorquez, who started and held Saint Mary's to three runs on six hits over five innings, gave up a single and a walk in the fifth but induced a line-out double play to end the inning. First year Rileigh Morlock (Lincoln, Ill./Normal Community West) came in to start the sixth and shut out the Cardinals to earn the save. Nicholson tallied two hits for the second straight game to lead the Scots' bats.

Macalester, which has the program's most overall wins (25) and MIAC victories (12) in a season since 1996, plays its final regular-season home games on Saturday, April 27 against No. 17 Bethel University. The first game begins at 3:00 p.m. at the Macalester Softball Complex.