ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College softball team saw its season come to an end with a pair of MIAC losses to conference-leading Saint Benedict, 3-1 and 8-2 Saturday afternoon at the Macalester Softball Complex. The results give the Scots a 21-19 record overall and a 12-10 mark in conference play, while the Bennies (31-9 overall) clinch the MIAC regular-season crown with a 21-1 MIAC record.
Macalester tied for fifth place in the MIAC standings with St. Catherine, Carleton and Bethel, but St. Catherine and Carleton earned the final two spots in the MIAC Playoffs due to tie-breakers. The season marks the third consecutive year with 20 or more wins, joining the teams from 1995-97 as the only teams with three straight seasons with 20-plus victories.
In the first game, Saint Benedict opened the scoring in the top of the second inning with two runs, including a solo home run by Lauren Freeberg. In the bottom of the fourth, junior infielder
Tess Bojorquez (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) led off with a single and advanced to third on a pair of bunts. First year
Ainsley Sullivan (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin School) followed with a single to plate Bojorquez and make the score 2-1. The Bennies were able to restore their two-run lead with a run in the top of the fifth. The Scots didn't get anyone on base until the bottom of the seventh, when junior outfielder
Callia Holland (Akron, Ohio/Hawken) led off with a walk. Sullivan hit a grounder to short that retired Holland, then advanced to second on a bunt by sophomore outfielder
Safiya Butler (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School). With Sullivan on second and two out, a strikeout ended the threat and the game in favor of Saint Ben's, 3-1.
Macalester had seven hits against Bennies' ace Ellie Peterson, including two apiece by junior infielder
Elizabeth Welch (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North) and sophomore infielder
Ally Wolf (Valencia, Calif./Valencia). Junior pitcher
Martha Miller (Medford, Wis./Medford) went the distance, allowing three runs on nine hits while walking three and striking out three.
Saint Benedict started the second game with three runs in the top of the first inning and added two more in the second for a 5-0 lead. The Scots broke through in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases on singles by Bojorquez and Holland and a walk by junior
Rebecca Heinze (Rosemount, Minn./Prescott). With two down, Miller lined a single to left that brought home Bojorquez and Holland to make the score 5-2. But the Bennies responded with two runs of their own to go back on top by five, 7-2.
After Saint Ben's tacked on a run in the top of the seventh, Butler hit a one-out double to left in the bottom of the seventh. But Bennies' pitcher Olivia Wallace induced a pair of groundouts to end the game. Wallace held the Scots to two runs on six hits and three walks over seven innings.
Miller pitched the final five innings and gave up three runs on eight hits while walking two and fanning two, in addition to driving in both of Macalester's runs. Bojorquez finished with two hits in the second game.
The doubleheader also marked the final competition as Scots for seniors
Kara Jensen (Elmhurst, Ill./York),
Maddie Molay (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) and
Monica Montoya (Blue Island, Ill./Dwight D. Eisenhower).
Macalester, coached by
Jody Gabriel, will have 16 returning players for next year's team.
