ST. PAUL, Minn. – In a pair of polar-opposite games, the Macalester College baseball team won two one-run games, 2-1 and 17-16 to sweep a MIAC twin bill with Augsburg University on Senior Day Wednesday afternoon at Nicholson Field. With the victories, the Scots (25-13) clinched at least a tie for second place with a 14-4 record in conference games. The Auggies drop to 8-17, 5-13 MIAC.
Junior infielder
Holden Peacock (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid School) registered his 100th hit as a Scot with a run-scoring double in the second game, while senior pitcher
Jamie Loizeaux (Albany, Calif./Albany) saved both games and tied the MIAC record for conference appearances in a single season with 14.
In the first game, Macalester broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third. Senior infielder
Nathan Gumagay (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) led off with a double, Peacock singled and first year
John McMurray (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends) scored them both with a single to take a 2-0 lead. Augsburg threatened in the top of the fourth, loading the bases with no outs on two singles and a hit batter. But senior pitcher
Ben King (Chicago, Ill./Whitney M. Young Magnet) struck out the next three batters to keep the Auggies from scoring.
In the top of the sixth, Augsburg pushed a run across on a single by Stanley Regguinti to make the score 2-1. After the Scots put a runner on third in the bottom of the sixth but did not score, Loizeaux induced three straight ground balls to retire the Auggies in order in the top of the seventh and end the game.
King earned the win, shutting out Augsburg on four hits while striking out six without a walk in four innings. Junior
Isaiah Ramirez (Houston, Texas/Northbrook) also pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Peacock went 2-for-3 with a run to lead the offense. For the game, the teams combined for 12 hits and three runs, with the pitchers walking a total of three batters.
The second game saw the complete opposite, with the teams scoring 33 runs on 27 hits and 19 walks, 14 by Scots' pitchers. Macalester took control of Game 2 early with four runs in the bottom of the second. Senior infielder
Josh Planko (Northville, Mich./Northville) singled home senior outfielder
Stephen Paulsen (Middleton, Wis./Middleton), senior
Niko Alexander (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) came home on a passed ball, and Gumagay singled to plate Planko and later stole home. After Augsburg tallied two runs in the top of the fourth, the Scots struck for six runs in the bottom of the fourth for a 10-2 advantage. Gumagay, Peacock and Paulsen drove in single runs, while Alexander hit a two-run double in the inning.
Augsburg answered in a big way in the top of the fifth, scoring nine runs on four hits, four walks, three hit batters and an error to erase an eight-run lead and make the score 11-10 Auggies. Undeterred, Macalester came right back in the bottom of the fifth. Peacock registered his 100th career hit with a double that scored Gumagay, then scored on a single by McMurray. Senior
Raymond McCaskey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Manitou Springs) stole home, and Alexander singled to plate McMurray and later scored on a single by Planko to put Macalester on top, 15-11.
Augsburg pushed three more runs across in the top of the sixth to pull to within one, 15-14. In the bottom of the sixth, Paulsen hit a two-run single that plated Peacock and McCaskey for a 17-14 edge. The Auggies got a run back in the top of the seventh, but junior
Nick Strezo (San Mateo, Calif./Hillsdale) pitched a scoreless eighth, giving up two hits but walking none. Loizeaux entered the game to start the ninth, tying the single-season record for MIAC appearances with 14. He walked three batters and hit a batter that drove in a run, but struck out the final batter to earn his second save of the day. Loizeaux, who has made 25 appearances this season, now has five saves on the year.
Peacock, McCaskey and Alexander each had three hits, with Peacock scoring three runs and driving in two, McCaskey scoring twice and Alexander registering two runs and three RBIs. Gumagay and McMurray each scored three runs. Junior pitcher
Josh Schmidt (Chicago, Ill./Whitney M. Young Magnet) started and allowed six runs, three earned, on five hits over 4 1/3 innings. Sophomore
Haruto Mizuno (Irving, Texas/Ranchview) pitched 1 1/3 innings and gave up two runs and one hit while striking out three to earn the win.
Macalester, who has clinched a MIAC Playoff berth, wraps up the regular season with a doubleheader at Hamline on Saturday, May 2. The first game starts at 6:30 p.m. at CHS Field in St. Paul.
