NORTHFIELD, Minn. - It was yet another windy afternoon at Mel Taube Field, as the Carleton College baseball team split its second consecutive home doubleheader, this time against Macalester College. The Knights came out hot winning the first game 9-2, but fell 10-8 in an 11-inning affair in the second contest of the day.
 
Game 1 Recap
After allowing only an unearned run across 7.0 innings of work against St. Olaf last Tuesday, Carleton's game one starter AJ Staff (Jr./Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge) again dazzled, this time earning the win in a complete game effort. Staff conceded a pair of runs in the first inning but shut the door on the Scots (9-18, 5-9 MIAC) over the final six frames. Staff collected five strikeouts over the outing.
 
After two runs came across in the opening inning for the visitors, it took until the third inning for the Knights (7-14, 4-5 MIAC) to respond with scoring of their own. Carleton would bat around in the four-run frame, and the hosts added three additional runs in the fourth and two more in the sixth inning.
 
Seven of the nine batters in the Knights' lineup reached base safely on multiple occasions, with seniors Jacob Small (Sr./Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley), Sam Schur (Sr./Calabasas, Calif./Viewpoint), Jacob Smith (Sr./McKinleyville, Calif./McKinleyville), and Cayten Gardner (Sr./Claremont, Calif./Claremont) combining for all nine of Carleton's RBI, with each driving in at least two runs apiece.
 
Game 2 recap
Thanks to performances from Carleton's Ben Jeweler (Jr./Seattle, Wash./Garfield) and Macalester's Thomas Windels, the scoring for both sides did not come early in the second game of the twin billing.
 
Jeweler surrendered two runs (one earned) over 6.0 innings of work, scattering five hits and a pair of walks while racking up six strikeouts for the Knights.
 
The outburst of runs began in the bottom of the sixth inning. With the game tied 2-2 and a runner on first base, Aaron Berkowitz (Jr./Kansas City, Mo./Pembroke Hill School) got every stitch of the Peter Aspholm offering, breaking the tie game with a two-run moonshot.
 
A two-out Carleton error proved costly in the eighth as Kenny Rodriguez launched a three-run homer to put Macalester on top, but the Knights rallied in the bottom of the frame, with Berkowitz plating James Sassi (Sr./Stamford, Conn./Brunswick School) on a sacrifice fly to even the score at 5-5.
 
It was not until the 11th inning that either team scored again, and thanks to a succession of walks, hit batters, and base hits, the Scots scored five runs and seemed to put the game out of reach at 10-5. However, the first five batters in the bottom of the inning reached base for Carleton. Small drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home the first run, and Paul Hinton's (Sr./Omaha, Neb./Millard West) two-run single cut the deficit to just 10-8. The Scots would bear down, and although making two pitching changes in the inning, held on when the Knights left the bases loaded.
 
Steve Antrim (So./Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored. Berkowitz went 3-for-3 with 3 RBI.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton hosts a single non-conference tilt against Crown College on Monday, April 25. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.