BELTON, Texas – The Macalester College baseball team won a three-game series at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor with a split of Saturday's doubleheader at Red Murff Field. The Scots, who came back to win Friday's opener, 7-4, won the first game, 14-10 with a four-run ninth inning before losing the second game, 17-7 for a 3-3 record on the season. The Crusaders are now 8-5.

The Game 1 win was victory number 399 for Macalester head coach Matt Parrington, who is in his 27th season as the Scots' skipper.

In the first game, junior infielder Isaiah Ramirez (Houston, Texas/Northbrook) delivered a two-run double to plate junior infielder Holden Peacock (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid School) and first year outfielder John McMurray (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends) in the top of the first inning. After Mary Hardin-Baylor pushed a run across in the bottom of the first, Peacock drew a bases-loaded walk that brought in sophomore Connor Davison (Redwood City, Calif./Woodside) to make the score 3-1 in the top of second.

Looking to avenge Friday's 7-4 loss to Macalester, the Crusaders took control of the game with a run in the third and a big five-run inning in the fourth for a 7-3 advantage. The Scots, who came back from a 4-1 deficit with six runs in the final two innings yesterday, were undeterred, scoring seven runs over the next three innings to regain the upper hand, 10-7. Ramirez belted a two-run homer in the top of the fifth, and McMurray singled home senior outfielder Niko Alexander (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) in the sixth. In the seventh, Alexander hit an RBI double that scored senior Evan Kang (Sherman Oaks, Calif./Village Christian), first year J.C. Whitelock (St. Petersburg, Fla./Principia) delivered a pinch-hit single that brought home Alexander and senior infielder Tristan Jones (Fairfield, Conn./Greens Farms Academy), and McMurray plated senior Brennan Murley (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) with a single.

A two-run homer by Nolan Williams in the bottom of the seventh gave Mary Hardin-Baylor hope, then the Crusaders tied it up with a run off an error in the eighth. In the top of the ninth, Alexander led off with a double and moved to third on a single by senior Nathan Gumagay (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill). Murley walked to load the bases, then after a groundout, McMurray singled to left to plate Murley and Gumagay for a 12-10 lead. McMurray and senior Raymond McCaskey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Manitou Springs) came home on a single by Peacock to make the score 14-10. Senior pitcher Tommy Ball (Wayne, Pa./The Shipley School) retired the Crusaders in the bottom of the ninth to wrap up the win.

McMurray went 4-for-5 with a walk, two runs and four RBIs, and Ramirez was 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBIs. Senior pitcher Jamie Loizeaux (Albany, Calif./Albany) earned the win with a perfect eighth inning, while first year pitcher Winston Wisely (Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi) gave up two runs on three hits, three walks and three strikeouts in 4.0 innings of relief.

In Game 2, McCaskey led off the game with a home run for an early 1-0 lead. MHB answered with four runs in the bottom of the first for a 4-1 lead. After Gumagay hit a two-run double that scored Jones and senior infielder Josh Planko (Northville, Mich./Northville) in the top of the second, the Crusaders tallied three more runs in the bottom of the second. Again in the third, following a home run by McMurray for the Scots, the hosts put three more runs on the board in the bottom half of the inning for a 10-4 advantage.

Mary Hardin-Baylor added three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth before Macalester scored three in the top of the sixth. Whitelock roped a two-run double to right to plate sophomore outfielder Tristan Lander (West Chester, Pa./B. Reed Henderson) and Peacock, then came home on a double by sophomore Brandon Kim (Los Gatos, Calif./Bellarmine College Preparatory) to make the score 15-7. But the Crusaders scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to win via the 10-run rule.

McMurray had another strong game at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a solo home run. Lander registered a pair of hits and scored a run.

The Scots will face the University of Minnesota Morris on Wednesday, Mar. 4 at U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings. The first game of the non-conference doubleheader begins at 10:35 a.m. in Minneapolis, Minn.