WHITEWATER, Wis. – The Macalester College baseball team began the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship at the Whitewater Regional with a loss to No. 3 UW-Whitewater, 13-4 Friday afternoon at Prucha Field. The Scots, who qualified for the NCAA Championship by winning the MIAC Playoffs, drop to 29-16 on the season and will play Luther College in an elimination game on Saturday. The Warhawks, who are the defending national champions, improve to 42-4 and advance through the winner's bracket to face Bethany Lutheran.
UW-Whitewater set the tone early, as Aaron Holland led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run. Two more runs in the bottom of the second, a two-run homer by Keli Grennier in the third and another run in the fourth gave the Warhawks a commanding 6-0 lead. In the top of the fifth, the Macalester bats came alive with three runs on four hits. Senior Niko Alexander (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) singled and came around to score on senior infielder Nathan Gumagay's (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) two-out double for the Scots' first run. Still with two out, junior infielder Holden Peacock (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid School) doubled home Gumagay, and senior outfielder Raymond McCaskey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Manitou Springs) plated Gumagay with a single to make the score 6-3.
UW-Whitewater got a run back in a fifth, then pushed five runs across in the bottom of the sixth for a commanding 12-3 advantage. The sixth included a solo shot by Andy Theis and a three-run homer from Grennier. Alexander scored on a grounder by Peacock in the seventh, but the Warhawks notched another run in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 13-4 UW-Whitewater.
McCaskey and senior infielder Josh Planko (Northville, Mich./Northville) each had two hits, as the Scots totaled eight hits in the game. Junior pitcher Jack Nussbaum (Brunswick, Maine/Thornton Academy) started on the mound and allowed five runs, three earned, on five hits and a walk while striking out two in three innings.
Macalester will face Luther in an elimination game on Saturday, May 16 at 11:00 a.m. at Prucha Field. The winner will advance to play at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday.
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2026 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship
Whitewater Regional - Prucha Field at Jim Miller Stadium
Friday, May 15
Game 1: UW-Whitewater 13, Macalester 4 - box score
Game 2: Bethany Lutheran 8, Luther 2 - box score
Saturday, May 16
Game 3: Macalester (29-16) vs. Luther (33-12), 11:00 a.m.
Game 4: UW-Whitewater (42-4) vs. Bethany Lutheran (32-6), 2:30 p.m.
Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser, 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 17
Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 11:00 a.m.
Game 7: Repeat Game 6 if necessary, 45 minutes after conclusion of Game 6
