ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College softball team swept a doubleheader with Concordia College, 7-6 and 11-3 Saturday afternoon at Macalester Stadium. The second game saw juniors Renee Nicholson (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) and Sophie Futchko (Prince Frederick, Md./Huntingtown) record their 100th career hits. The Scots are now 16-6 overall and 3-1 in conference play, while the Cobbers drop to 5-15, 1-3 MIAC.

Trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning of Game 1, Macalester pushed two runs across to take a 3-2 lead. First year Elizabeth Welch (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North) singled home first year Alli Johnson (Waukee, Iowa/Northwest) and later scored from third on an infield hit by first year Callia Holland (Akron, Ohio/Hawken). In the top of the seventh, Concordia rallied to score four runs and take a 6-3 advantage heading into the bottom of the seventh. Senior Elsa Church (St. Louis, Mo./Kirkwood) led off with a single, Nicholson walked, then a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. A groundout by Johnson plated Church to make the score 6-4, then Futchko singled and advanced to second on the throw to put runners at second and third again. Welch followed with a long fly ball that was caught in foul territory by the right fielder, allowing Nicholson to come home with the Scots' fifth run.

With two outs, senior Emily Pedersen (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson) came through with a clutch single that drove in Futchko with the tying run. After Pederson stole second, Holland singled to move Pedersen to third. Needing another two-out hit, the Scots relied on senior Mandy Morrical (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon), who hit a grounder to short and beat out the throw to bring home Pedersen with the walk-off, game-winning run. Morrical, Pedersen, Futchko and Church each had two hits, while Holland led the way with three hits.  First year Rileigh Morlock (Lincoln, Ill./Normal Community West) went the distance in the circle, allowing six runs, five earned, on four hits while striking out 11 batters and walking two.

In the second game, the Cobbers struck first with two runs in the top of the first inning. Macalester broke through in the bottom of the second, with Johnson scoring on an error and three runs coming home on a bases-loaded, dropped pop-up for a 4-2 lead. Concordia made it a 4-3 game with a run in the top of the third, but the Scots pushed a run across in the bottom of the third on another Cobber miscue. In the bottom of the fourth, Nicholson, Welch and Johnson drove in runs to make the score 8-3 Macalester. The score remained the same until the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, first year Rebecca Heinze (Rosemount, Minn./Prescott) hit a pinch-hit single and was replaced by Nicholson, who stole second and came home on a single by Welch. Johnson followed with a single that scored first year pinch-runner Monica Montoya (Blue Island, Ill./Dwight D. Eisenhower) and then came home on a double by Pedersen to end the game, 11-3.

Nicholson's 100th career hit came in the second inning, while Futchko followed suit in the fourth inning. Nicholson ended up with two hits and two runs in the game, with Futchko totaling three hits on the day. Pedersen also had a pair of hits in Game 2, while Johnson went 3-for-4 with two runs and two runs batted in. Junior pitcher Kaitlyn Pistorius (Parker, Colo./Legend) started and held Concordia to three runs on six hits while walking one and fanning three. First year Paige Schultz (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) pitched the final two innings and blanked the Cobbers on two hits and three strikeouts in her first action of the season.

Macalester continues its MIAC schedule with a doubleheader at Hamline University on Tuesday, April 9. The first game begins at 3:30 p.m. in St. Paul.