ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Knights are still seeking the elusive first conference victory after stumbling twice against the College of St. Catherine on Saturday. The Wildcats slugged their way to a 6-2 win in the opener, then collected 13 hits—including 12 singles—in posting a 9-1 triumph in the nightcap.
Carleton slips to 0-6 in MIAC play but challenged St. Kate’s multiple times in game one, but could not break it open with the big inning.
Training 3-0 in the third inning, rookies Karen Robinson (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) and Dana Mackey (Hingham, Mass.) collected base hits to spark a two-run frame. The Knights looked poised to score more with the bases-loaded and one out, but a pair of groundouts snuffed out a bigger rally.
Staring at a 6-2 deficit in their final turn at bat, the Knights loaded the bases once again, this time with nobody out and the heart of the order coming to the plate. Unfortunately consecutive forceouts at home plate and a game-ending flyball resulted in defeat.
St. Kate’s catcher McGehee was a one-person wrecking crew in game one, smashing a three-run homer in the first and adding a two-run blast in the fifth.
Mackey and senior Lisa Friedman (Pasadena, Calif./Flintridge Preparatory) had two hits apiece to lead Carleton. Starting pitcher Mari Jo Long (Sr./Willmette, Ill./New Trier) fanned seven and did not walk a batter over 6.0 innings but the longball proved to be the difference.
In the second game, the first five Wildcats reached base in the first inning, leading a three-run frame. An unearned run was tacked on in the second, and five more runs came across in the third against starter Robinson.
The Knights’ lone run came in the third as Alex Schefter (So./Mt. Vernon, Iowa) doubled, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Michael Johnson’s (Jr./Minneapolis/Blake) single. Hannah Maras (Sr./Madelia, Minn.) had Carleton’s other two hits.
The Knights are next scheduled to play at Macalester College on Monday, April 6.