ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College softball team lost a pair of home games against Carleton College, 3-0 and 5-4 in a MIAC doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at the Macalester College Softball Complex. The Scots are now 20-15 overall and 11-6 in the conference. The Knights moved to 20-14, 10-8 in MIAC play.
 
In the opener, the Scots couldn't find their rhythm at the plate. Junior Tess Bojorquez (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) had a two-hit game and sophomore Safiya Butler (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) led off the game with a single, but that was the offense for the game. Junior pitcher Martha Miller (Medford, Wis./Medford) had a strong start in the circle, allowing two earned runs over 4 1/3 innings. First year Ainsley Sullivan (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin School) threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief, striking out four. The Carleton pitcher, Rachel Block, threw a three-hit complete game shutout, despite only striking out two. The Knights scored one unearned run in the third and tacked on two more in the fifth.

The second game was a different story, with the Scots out-hitting Carleton 11-8 and battling into the bottom of the seventh. After Carleton plated an unearned run in the top of the first on a passed ball, Macalester got it back. Butler led off with a single, stole second, moved to third on a flyout, and came home on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1. In the bottom of the second, sophomore Dylan Tapia (Tarzana, Calif./Notre Dame) doubled to right-center and was lifted for pinch runner Allison Dvorak, who scored on a Bojorquez single up the middle to put the Scots ahead 2-1. That RBI single from Bojorquez was hit number 100 for her career.

Carleton tied it in the fourth on an RBI single, but Macalester answered again. Sophomore Ally Wolf (Valencia, Calif./Valencia) led off the bottom half with a double down the left field line, Tapia followed with an infield single, and Wolf scored on a Bojorquez RBI grounder to make it 3-2 Scots.

The Knights retook the lead in the top of the sixth, stringing together three RBI singles to score three runs and make it 5-3.

In the bottom of the seventh down two, Sullivan singled to left, Butler dropped a bunt single, and Miller followed with a single to right to load the bases with one out. Junior Elizabeth Welch (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North) brought home Sullivan on a fielder's choice to make it a one-run game, but a foul out ended the rally.

Butler had a day at the plate in Game 2: 3-for-4 with two stolen bases. Wolf and Tapia each contributed two hits. Bojorquez drove in two runs with her 100th career hit, and Miller added a clutch single in the seventh.

Macalester returns to action Saturday, May 2, when the Scots host the College of Saint Benedict for a MIAC doubleheader at the Macalester College Softball Complex. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.