ST. PAUL, Minn. – Down 10-3 in the first game, the Macalester College baseball team reeled off 14 runs in the sixth inning to win, then took Game 2, 8-7 to sweep St. Olaf in the first MIAC doubleheader of the season Saturday afternoon at Nicholson Field. The victories give the Scots a 12-7 record overall, including a 2-0 mark in conference play. The Oles drop to 5-13, 0-2 MIAC.

Before the first game, Macalester honored head coach Matt Parrington, who achieved 400 wins earlier this season. Parrington is the program's winningest coach with 408 victories.

The first game started with St. Olaf scoring four runs on four hits in the top of the first inning. Senior catcher Stephen Paulsen (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) put Macalester on the scoreboard with a single that plated senior infielder Josh Planko (Northville, Mich./Northville) in the bottom of the second. After the Oles pushed two more runs across in the top of the third, the Scots scored two runs in the bottom of the inning. Planko's grounder brought home senior outfielder Raymond McCaskey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Manitou Springs), then senior infielder Tristan Jones (Fairfield, Conn./Greens Farms Academy) singled to score Planko to make the score 6-3. St. Olaf seemingly put the game out of reach with four runs in the top of the fourth, then put zeros on the board for the Scots over the next two innings.

Everything changed in the bottom of the sixth. Macalester sent 18 batters to the plate, scoring 14 runs on eight hits, an error and six walks. McCaskey delivered the big blow with a grand slam home run with the score tied at 10-10. First year John McMurray (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends) hit a three-run double, sophomore Connor Davison (Redwood City, Calif./Woodside) delivered a pinch-hit, two-run single, Jones walked to score a run and singled in another, and Paulsen also had an RBI single. The result was a 17-10 lead, stunning the Oles, who were retired in the top of the seventh on a groundout and a double play.

McMurray went 4-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs, while McCaskey, Jones and senior Niko Alexander (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) each had two hits. Jones also drove in three runs. Sophomore lefty Elliott Rowley (South Pasadena, Calif./Polytechnic School) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win.

In the second game, the Scots answered a St. Olaf run in the top of the first with a run in the bottom of the first on a McCaskey single that brought home junior infielder Holden Peacock (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid School). The Oles scored another run in the top of the third, only to have Macalester score twice in the bottom of the third. Peacock came home on a grounder by McMurray, then sophomore outfielder Tristan Lander (West Chester, Pa./B. Reed Henderson) singled to score McCaskey for a 3-2 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, Peacock belted a two-run triple to put Macalester ahead, 5-2. McCaskey followed with a double to plate Peacock, then Lander singled home McCaskey again to make the score 7-2 Scots. St. Olaf mounted a comeback of its own, putting five runs on the board in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 7-7. In the bottom of the eighth, McMurray reached on an error, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Lander and came home on a single by Davison for the go-ahead run. Senior pitcher Evan Kang (Sherman Oaks, Calif./Village Christian) came on in the ninth, striking out the first batter and registering a fly out. After the third batter reached on an error and stole second, Kang induced a grounder to the shortstop to end the game. The performance marked Kang's third save of the season.

Peacock went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, three runs and two RBIs. Lander was 3-for-3 with two RBIs, while McCaskey registered two hits, two runs and two RBIs. Junior Jack Nussbaum (Brunswick, Maine/Thornton Academy) pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, while senior Tommy Ball (Wayne, Pa./The Shipley School) earned the win, shutting out the Oles on one hit and two strikeouts in two innings of relief.

Macalester is scheduled to play a MIAC doubleheader at St. Scholastica on Wednesday, April 1, starting at 3:30 p.m. in Duluth, Minn.