WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Macalester College baseball team played a pair of teams from Wisconsin at the RussMatt Central Florida Tournament on Tuesday. The Scots beat UW-River Falls, 11-6 in the morning at Chain of Lakes Park before falling to UW-Stout, 14-7 at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex for a 7-5 record on the season.

Against the Falcons (3-1), Macalester opened the game by getting the first three batters on base in the top of the first. Senior outfielder Raymond McCaskey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Manitou Springs) was hit by a pitch, first year outfielder John McMurray (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends) singled and sophomore outfielder Tristan Lander (West Chester, Pa./B. Reed Henderson) followed with a single to plate McCaskey for a 1-0 lead. Then in the second inning, the Scots loaded the bases for McMurray, who hit a two-out, bases-loaded double to bring home McCaskey, junior infielder Braden LaChapelle (Bethesda, Md./Walter Johnson) and senior Nathan Gumagay (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) for a 4-0 advantage. Still with two outs, Lander and Alexander hit back-to-back run-scoring doubles to put Macalester on top, 6-0.

UW-River Falls scored their first run in the fourth, only to have the Scots push a run across in the sixth on a single by McCaskey that brought home senior infielder Tristan Jones (Fairfield, Conn./Greens Farms Academy). The Falcons scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 7-3, then loaded the bases in the eighth on a single and two hit batters. A walk, a grounder and an infield single plated three runs, and UW-River Falls was within one run, 7-6.

In their final at bat the Scots answered in a big way with four runs in the top of the ninth for an 11-6 lead. McMurray notched his fourth hit of the game and later scored on a passed ball. Senior infielder Josh Planko (Northville, Mich./Northville) delivered a two-run double and sophomore catcher Bobby Munoz (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica) singled home Planko. Senior pitcher Evan Kang (Sherman Oaks, Calif./Village Christian) struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to close out the win.

In the day's second game, UW-Stout (1-4) took control early with six runs in the top of the first. Macalester cut the lead in half with three runs in the bottom of the second. Jones led off with an infield single, stole second and scored on a single by senior outfielder Stephen Paulsen (Middleton, Wis./Middleton). After McCaskey walked and junior infielder Holden Peacock (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid School) singled to load the bases, Lander walked to score Paulsen. Junior catcher Ben Oberdorfer (Jacksonville, Fla./Paxon School) followed with a sacrifice fly that plated McCaskey to make the score 6-3.

Three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning tied the score at 6-6. Oberdorfer singled home Peacock and first year outfielder Ellis Alexander (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) hit a two-run double to score Oberdorfer and Lander. The Blue Devils quickly regained the upper hand with three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth for an 11-6 advantage. Jones singled home Planko in the bottom of the sixth, but that's as close as the Scots would get. UW-Stout closed out the win with three more runs in the top of the ninth. Alexander, Jones and Paulsen each had two hits for Macalester.

The Scots take on Knox College on Wednesday, March 18 at the RussMatt Tournament. The game starts at 11:00 a.m. Eastern at Chain of Lakes Park.