LEESBURG, Fla. – The Macalester College softball team wrapped up its Spring Break trip to Florida with victories over Hood College and Knox College at THE Spring Games Friday afternoon at Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex. The Scots head north with a 6-10 record on the season after going 4-6 in Florida.
In the morning game against Hood, Macalester produced all of the offense in the bottom of the first inning. First year Renee Nicholson (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) and senior Mackenzie Clarke (Redwood City, Calif./Sequoia) both singled, then scored on a double steal and two separate errors on the same play. Still in the first, first year Sophie Futchko (Prince Frederick, Md./Huntingtown) hit a single and scored on a double by sophomore Mandy Morrical (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon) for a 3-0 lead.
Solid pitching and outstanding defense made the three runs stand. Hood loaded the bases with one out when the next batter flied out to senior Anna Leidner (New York, N.Y./Bronx Science) in left. The runner on third tried to score, but a perfect throw from Leidner to Morrical was in time to tag the runner out. The Scots also turned a double play in the sixth to stop a Hood rally. First year pitcher Kaitlyn Pistorius (Parker, Colo./Legend) pitched two scoreless innings, and sophomore Elsa Church (St. Louis, Mo./Kirkwood) tossed five shutout innings and allowed six hits and one strikeout without a walk. Clarke went 3-for-3 at the plate to lead the offense.
Against Knox in the afternoon, Clarke singled home Nicholson in the top of the third for a 1-0 lead. Knox responded with two runs in the bottom of the third before the Scots pushed three runs across in the fourth to lead 4-2. Sophomore Cheyenne Woerman (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) singled home Futchko, sophomore Lauren Smith (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown) came home on a grounder by senior Emily Bergin (Houston, Texas/St. Thomas Episcopal School), and junior Jessica Katzin (Chicago, Ill./Jones College Prep) bunted to plate Woerman. Smith hit an RBI single in the fifth, then the Prairie Fire struck for three runs in the bottom of the fifth to lead 5-6.
Macalester would not be denied, mounting a comeback in the final two innings that would put the game out of reach. Junior Regan Brodine (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny), Morrical and Futchko each drove in runs in the sixth, with Futchko hitting a two-run double. Then in the seventh. Brodine singled home Nicholson and Katzin, advanced to second on the throw home, took third on a throwing error and stole home for the Scots’ 12th run of the game in a 12-6 victory. Nicholson, Brodine, Clarke, Futchko and Katzin each had two hits in the win.
Pistorius pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing six runs, four earned, on nine hits while striking out six and walking one to earn her third victory of the season.
Macalester is back in action on Saturday, Mar. 26 with a non-conference doubleheader at the University of Northwestern. The first game begins at 1:00 p.m. in Roseville, Minn.
