Baseball 4/8/03 -- Augsburg 3-10, Macalester 5-1

GAME 1 BOXSCORE
GAME 2 BOXSCORE


ST. PAUL, Minn. (4/8/03) -- Mike Merrill hit two triples and went 3-for-3 at the plate for Macalester College in the first game, and Joe Haehn (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS) hit a three-run homer and Collin Nash (Jr., Rochester, Minn./Mayo HS) pitched a complete-game five-hitter for Augsburg College in the second game, as the Auggies and Scots split in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at Macalester Field.

Macalester won the first game 5-3, and Augsburg won the second contest 10-1. Augsburg is now 7-10-2 overall and 2-2 in MIAC play, while Macalester is now 5-13 overall and 1-3 in MIAC play.

Haehn hit his seventh home run of the season -- a total that leads both the team and the entire MIAC (overall games) -- as part of a five-run fifth inning that broke open the second game.

Meanwhile, Nash pitched his second complete game in a row, striking out two while walking two and allowing just five hits, all singles.

The top and bottom of the Auggie order had the hot bats in the second game, as the Auggies outhit Macalester by an 11-5 margin. MIAC Player of the Week Pat Marsh (Sr., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) continued his hot start to the season, going 2-for-3 with three RBI in the second game, reaching base four times. Marsh leads the team with a .453 batting average.

No. 2-hitter M.J. Iverson (Sr., New Germany, Minn./Norwood-Young America Central HS) followed Marsh in the order with two doubles, driving in three runs and scoring one. At the bottom of the order, Pat Knafla (Jr., Rice, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice HS) went 2-for-2 with a double, four runs scored and an RBI, and No. 9-hitter Andy Nelson (Fr., Waseca, Minn.) went 2-for-3.

Augsburg scored three runs in the second inning, as Knafla drove in a run on a single and Marsh plated two on a single. Knafla doubled and Nelson hit a bunt single to open the fourth inning, and were drive in on a two-run double by Iverson. Haehn followed with his three-run blast. Augsburg scored single runs in the fifth and sixth, on an RBI double by Iverson and a single by Marsh.

Macalester scored its lone run in the sixth, when Joel Brettingen hit a run-scoring single, driving in Ismail Khalidi. Brettingen went 2-for-3 to lead the Scots in the second game.

Macalester jumped on the board early in the first game, scoring four runs in the first two innings. Merrill tripled and scored on a double by Brettingen to open the game, and Josh Ortiz hit a double to drive in Scott Bell. Ortiz came across on a fielding error to cap a three-run first inning for the Scots. Another run came across in the second, when Merrill hit his second straight triple, driving in a run. Ortiz hit a run-scoring single to plate Bell in the fifth as the Scots built a 5-0 lead.

Augsburg nearly came back in the seventh, sending eight batters to the plate. Iverson hit a sacrifice fly to drive in a run, and Haehn hit a two-run single with the bases loaded to cut the margin to 5-3. Augsburg again loaded the bases, with two outs, but Macalester pitcher Cormac Seely came in to register the save with a strikeout to end the game.

Steve Derrington started for Macalester and pitched 6.2 innings, striking out two while walking six and allowing just four hits.

Jeremy Nelson (So., Maplewood, Minn./Roseville HS) pitched five innings for Augsburg, striking out five but allowing nine hits, five runs (four earned) and two walks to suffer the loss. Tyler Suter (Fr., Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) relieved him in the sixth.

Merrill went 3-for-3 to lead Macalester, while Bell went 2-for-4 and Ortiz went 2-for-3. Sammy Gross (Sr., Springfield, Minn.) had a double and scored a run for Augsburg.

Both teams return to MIAC action with rescheduled doubleheaders on Wednesday (4/9) at 2:30 p.m., Augsburg playing at St. Thomas and Macalester hosting St. Mary's.