ST. PETER, Minn. – Senior pitcher Ben King (Chicago, Ill./Whitney M. Young Magnet) tossed a one-hit shutout in Game 1, then Macalester pounded out 12 hits in the second game for an 11-4 victory to sweep a MIAC baseball doubleheader against Gustavus Tuesday afternoon at Gustie Baseball Field. The wins improve the Scots to 15-8 overall and 5-1 in conference play. The Gusties drop to 10-10, 3-3 MIAC.

In the first game, Macalester opened the scoring in the top of the third inning. Senior infielder Nathan Gumagay (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) hit a one-out double, advanced to third on a single by senior outfielder Raymond McCaskey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Manitou Springs) and scored on a bunt by junior infielder Holden Peacock (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid School). First year outfielder John McMurray (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends) followed with a walk to load the bases, but a double play kept the Scots from adding to their 1-0 lead.

Meanwhile King was dealing. He retired the first 16 batters he faced, with nine strikeouts, four fly balls and three groundouts. After King walked Andrew Glovich with one out in the sixth to end the perfect game, Glovich stole second to put a runner in scoring position. But King induced a pop up and a fly to right to end the inning and the threat. In the top of the seventh with runners on second and third and two out, McCaskey delivered a single to center that plated seniors Tristan Jones (Fairfield, Conn./Greens Farms Academy) and Niko Alexander (Bethesda, Md./Walk Whitman) with two big insurance runs for a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, King gave up a leadoff double to Jackson Goldberg to end his no-hit bid. But King continued his dominance, retiring the next three batters to strand Goldberg and finish the one-hit shutout. On 88 pitches through seven innings, King blanked Gustavus on one hit while walking one and fanning nine to improve to 2-1 on the season. McCaskey and Alexander each had two hits in the win.

The Scots got off to a strong start in the second game with a 3-0 lead after two innings. Sophomore outfielder Tristan Lander (West Chester, Pa./B. Reed Henderson) hit a sacrifice fly to bring home McCaskey in the top of the first, then Alexander blasted a two-run home run with sophomore catcher Bobby Munoz (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica) on base in the top of the second. Gustavus scored a run in the bottom of the second, and the score remained 3-1 until the top of the fifth. McCaskey doubled in the fifth and later scored on a grounder by McMurray, then Lander singled home Peacock for a 5-1 advantage.

In the sixth, McCaskey hit a two-out triple to plate Gumagay, then scored on a wild pitch to make the score 7-1 Scots. In the seventh, Munoz hit a run-scoring single that drove in McMurray, and Lander came home on a throwing error on the same play for a 9-1 lead. McCaskey made it 11-1 with a two-run double in the top of the ninth that scored sophomore Connor Davison (Redwood City, Calif./Woodside). The Gusties pushed three runs across in the bottom of the ninth, but Macalester closed out the win and the sweep to end a 10-game losing streak to Gustavus. It is the Scots' first sweep of Gustavus since 2018.

McCaskey went 4-for-6 with three runs, two doubles, a triple and three RBIs in the Game 2 victory. Lander went 3-for-4 at the plate with a run and two RBIs, while Munoz notched a pair of hits. Macalester's pitching was strong in Game 2 as well, with junior Josh Schmidt (Chicago, Ill./Whitney M. Young Magnet) starting and holding the Gusties to a run on two hits and three walks while striking out two in four innings. Sophomore Elliott Rowley (South Pasadena, Calif./Polytechnic School) pitched a pair of scoreless innings without allowing a hit, senior Jamie Loizeaux (Albany, Calif./Albany) tossed one scoreless inning and sophomore Haruto Mizuno (Irving, Texas/Ranchview) struck out the side in the eighth and pitched the final two innings.

Next up for Macalester is a MIAC twin bill against league-leading Bethel University on Wednesday, April 8 in a match-up between the top two teams in the conference standings. The first game starts at 2:30 p.m. at Nicholson Field.