MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Macalester College baseball team pitched well but struggled to score runs in a pair of losses to Augsburg University, 5-1 and 6-3 in a MIAC doubleheader Thursday afternoon at Parade Stadium. The results leave the Scots with a 6-15 record, including a 1-7 mark in conference play. The Auggies are now 10-13, 4-2 MIAC.

Macalester struck first in Game 1, with sophomore Isaiah Ramirez (Houston, Texas/Northbrook) singling to score junior Stephen Paulsen (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) from second base in the top of the first inning. The Scots loaded the bases with no one out on a single by junior Raymond McCaskey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Manitou Springs) and two walks, but a strikeout and a double play ended the threat. In the bottom of the fourth, Augsburg scored an unearned run to tie the score at 1-1. Then in the fifth, the Auggies pushed three runs across on four hits to take control of the game, 4-1. Augsburg added a run in the sixth and limited Macalester to two hits after the fourth inning to close out the win, 5-1.

McCaskey went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead the offense, which totaled seven hits. Senior pitcher Cam Scholl (Belmont, Calif./Carlmont) allowed four runs, none of them earned, on seven hits while striking out three without a walk in five innings of work. 

In the second game, Macalester senior pitcher Jacob Posner (Los Angeles, Calif./Alexander Hamilton) held the Auggies scoreless on five hits through five innings. In the top of the sixth, junior Nathan Gumagay (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) hit a two-out double that scored first year Aram Dombalagian (Glenview, Ill./North Shore Country Day School) from third for the first run of the game. Junior Tristan Jones (Fairfield, Conn./Greens Farms Academy) followed with a single to drive in Gumagay for a 2-0 advantage. The lead didn't last long, as Augsburg responded in the bottom of the sixth with five runs on five hits to pull ahead, 5-2. Another run in the bottom of the seventh made the score 6-2. Macalester threatened in the top of the ninth, loading the bases with one out on singles by Gumagay and McCaskey and a walk by sophomore Holden Peacock (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid School). A grounder to third by Paulsen scored Gumagay, but a flyout ended the game.

Gumagay went 4-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI. Posner went 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs, three earned, on eight hits while fanning three and walking one. Senior Ryan Przespolewski (Spring, Texas/Oak Ridge) gave up an unearned run in two innings of relief.

Macalester continues MIAC play with a doubleheader at Bethel University on Saturday, April 12. The first game starts at 1:00 p.m. in Arden Hills, Minn.