ST. PAUL, Minn. – In a game never separated by more than two runs, the Macalester College baseball team defeated Saint John's University, 5-4 in the MIAC Playoffs Thursday night at CHS Field. The win advances the No. 2-seeded Scots to the winner's bracket and improves their record to 27-14 on the season, breaking the program record for most wins in a season. The No. 3-seeded Johnnies (25-15) will play No. 1 Bethel University in the loser's bracket on Friday, May 8 at 12:00 p.m.
Macalester will face fourth-seeded Saint Mary's on Friday at 3:00 p.m. at CHS Field. The winner of that game advances to Saturday to play for the MIAC Playoff title, while the loser will play the winner of the Saint John's/Bethel game at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.
Macalester opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Junior infielder
Holden Peacock (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid School) led off with a walk, stole second, moved to third on a groundout by senior outfielder
Raymond McCaskey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Manitou Springs) and came on a double by first year outfielder
John McMurray (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends) for a 1-0 lead. Saint John's answered with four straight hits in the top of the second, including three doubles, that produced three runs for a 3-1 lead.
In the bottom of the second, back-to-back singles by sophomore catcher
Bobby Munoz (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica) and senior
Niko Alexander (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) and a sacrifice bunt from senior infielder
Tristan Jones (Fairfield, Conn./Greens Farms Academy) put runners on second and third. Senior infielder
Nathan Gumagay (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) delivered a two-run double to tie the game at 3-3. The hit was Gumagay's 100th career hit. Still in the second, a single by Peacock moved Gumagay to third, and Gumagay scored on a groundout by McCaskey for a 4-3 lead. Again the Johnnies responded, scoring a run on two hits in the top of the third to tie the score at 4-4.
In the bottom of the sixth with the score still tied and Alexander on second, Jones hit a single to left. Alexander raced around third but was thrown out at home, keeping the game knotted at 4-4. Then in the top of the seventh, the Johnnies loaded the bases with two singles and a walk. With one out, the next batter hit a grounder to short that Peacock, Jones and senior first baseman
Josh Planko (Northville, Mich./Northville) turned into an inning-ending double play.
With two out in the bottom of the seventh, McCaskey was hit by a pitch and stole second. After McMurray walked, sophomore outfielder
Tristan Lander (West Chester, Pa./B. Reed Henderson) lined a single to right that plated McCaskey for the go-ahead run. Meanwhile, junior left-hander
Jack Nussbaum (Brunswick, Maine/Thornton Academy), who entered the game in the second inning, was having a strong outing. After allowing a run in the third, Nussbaum held Saint John's to three hits while striking out five to give the Scots a chance. After Macalester took the lead in the seventh, he retired the Johnnies in order in the eighth.
Munoz led off the bottom of the eighth and advanced to third on a flyball by Jones, but Gumagay hit a grounder to end the inning. In the top of the ninth, Nussbaum walked the leadoff batter but retired the next two batters on a grounder and a strikeout. With two out and a runner on first the final batter grounded out to second, as Nussbaum closed out the 5-4 victory.
Nussbaum had his best game as a Scot, limiting the Johnnies to one run on six hits while walking five and fanning nine over 7 2/3 innings to improve to 4-1. Senior
Ben King (Chicago, Ill./Whitney M. Young Magnet) started and allowed three runs on five hits. Seven Scots recorded the eight hits off Saint John's starter Max Edwards, with Munoz recording a pair of hits.
Macalester faces Saint Mary's, who upset Bethel, 8-6 in 11 innings earlier today, in the winner's bracket of the MIAC Playoffs on Friday, May 8. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at CHS Field.
Tickets are $12.49 for adults and $9.20 for students and can be purchased
online. All games are available on the
MIAC Sports Network on a pay-per-view basis.
Tournament Website |
Tickets |
Live Video |
Live Stats |
Playoff Apparel
2026 MIAC Baseball Playoffs, hosted by Hamline University at CHS Field
Thursday, May 7
Game 1: No. 4 Saint Mary's 8, No. 1 Bethel 6 - 11 innings
Game 2:
No. 2 Macalester 5, No. 3 Saint John's 4
Friday, May 8
Game 3: No. 1 Bethel vs. No. 3 Saint John's, 12:00 p.m. |
PPV Stream
Game 4: No. 4 Saint Mary's vs.
No. 2 Macalester, 3:00 p.m. |
PPV Stream
Game 5: Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 6:00 p.m. |
PPV Stream
Saturday, May 9
Game 6: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5, 3:00 p.m. |
PPV Stream
Game 7 if necessary, 25 minutes after Game 6 |
PPV Stream
