MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Macalester College baseball team split with the University of Minnesota Morris in a non-conference doubleheader Wednesday night at U.S. Bank Stadium. The games marked the season openers for both teams.

In the first game, Minn. Morris jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a run in the first inning, two more in the second and another in the fourth. Macalester began its comeback in the bottom of the fourth inning. Junior Niko Alexander (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) led off with a single, moved to second on a single by first year Aram Dombalagian (Glenview, Ill./North Shore Country Day School) and advanced to third on a walk by junior Josh Planko (Northville, Mich./Northville). Junior Nathan Gumagay (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) followed with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Alexander and moving Dombalagian to third. Junior Stephen Paulsen (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) came through with a two-run double to make the score 4-3 Cougars. 

In the bottom of the sixth, sophomore Holden Peacock (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid School) tied the game with a single that brought home junior Raymond McCaskey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Manitou Springs), who walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After Peacock stole second, junior Tristan Jones (Fairfield, Conn./Greens Farms Academy) singled to centerfield. Peacock rounded third but did not go home, drawing the throw home. When Jones took off for second on the throw home, drawing a throw to second, Peacock came home with a head-first slide under the catcher's mitt for a 5-4 lead. 

Senior pitcher Cam Scholl (Belmont, Calif./Carlmont) did the rest, pitching a scoreless seventh inning to close out the win. Scholl earns the victory, tossing 2 2/3 innings without allowing a run on two hits and a walk while striking out five batters. Senior pitcher Ben Levinson (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) started and gave up four runs on five hits while walking three and fanning two in 4 1/3 innings. Peacock led the offense, going 3-for-3 at the plate with a walk, a run and a run batted in.

Momentum stayed with Macalester early on in Game 2, with Jones singling home McCaskey and later scoring on a single by Alexander in the top of the first inning for a 2-0 lead. After Minn. Morris scored a run in the bottom of the first, the Scots put three runs on the board in the top of the third to lead 5-1. Dombalagian hit a bases-loaded single and then executed a stolen base play that allowed Alexander to score from third for a 5-1 advantage. The Cougars put one across the plate in the bottom of the third and in the fifth to narrow the lead.

Junior right-hander Ben King (Chicago, Ill./Whitney M. Young Magnet) started on the mound and pitched five innings, allowing just four hits and two earned runs while striking out five. King was relieved by senior righty Izzy Flood (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) who contributed a scoreless sixth inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, with right-hander Jacob Posner (Los Angeles, Calif./Alexander Hamilton) in to close the game, Minn. Morris got the bases loaded quickly through a hit by pitch, walk, and single. Another single to right brought two runs home to tie the game, and after a Scots pitching change the winning run for the Cougars was brought home by a sacrifice fly to center.

Macalester will head south to participate in the Tucson Invitational Mar. 15-22.

Macalester 5, UMM 4
Macalester 5, UMM 6