NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Macalester College softball team closed out its most successful regular season since 1996 with two losses at St. Olaf College, 9-0 and 7-1 in a MIAC doubleheader Wednesday at Mabel Shirley Field. The Scots (25-15) are still alive in the MIAC Playoff chase with a 12-10 conference record. The Oles (23-13) move into a tie for fourth place with a MIAC record of 14-6 with two games to play.
Macalester's 25 wins are the most since the 1996 team finished 26-11 for the best record in the program's history. This year's 12 MIAC victories also are the most since 1996 (14).
In the first game with St. Olaf, the Scots managed just two hits off St. Olaf pitcher Jaelyn Orth. The Oles broke a scoreless tie with a two-run homer by Eva Hokanson in the bottom of the fourth inning, then struck for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to end the game. Orth struck the final blow, a grand slam that made the score 9-0. Senior
Emily Pedersen (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson) and junior
Renee Nicholson (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) had the hits for Macalester.
Momentum stayed with St. Olaf into Game 2, as the Oles scored five runs, including a three-run home run by Hokanson, in the bottom of the first inning. Two more runs in the fifth made it 7-0 before the Scots scored their first run of the day in the top of the sixth on a solo home run by junior
Sophie Futchko (Prince Frederick, Md./Huntingtown), her first of the season. Futchko went 2-for-2 with a walk, while Nicholson, seniors
Mandy Morrical (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon) and
Elsa Church (St. Louis, Mo./Kirkwood), and first year
Elizabeth Welch (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North) had the other hits for the Scots.
Macalester is in sixth place in the conference standings and currently holds the final playoff spot. At 9-9 with four games to play, Augsburg is the only team that can catch the Scots. The Auggies must sweep both St. Catherine on Friday and Hamline on Saturday to finish 13-9 and take the sixth and final playoff spot.
The MIAC Playoffs begin on Thursday, May 9, with the third and fourth seeds hosting the sixth and fifth seeds, respectively. The first-round winners advance to the semifinals, hosted by the No. 1 seed, on Saturday, May 11.
