Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 It is the time of the season when the upper classmen need to step to the forefront. The Hamline softball team was the recipient of just such a largesse as two seniors and two juniors led the way in a doubleheader sweep of Macalester Friday. 

Seniors Jamie Rubbelke (pictured) and Amanda Orrell teamed up with juniors Mary-Clare Couillard and Casey Anderson for 14 hits and 11 RBI as HU subdued the Scots, 8-2 and 7-5 to stay solidly in the race for a postseason playoff spot.  Hamline has won six of its last eight games and is now 11-5 in the MIAC (18-12 overall). The 11 wins ranks second among all MIAC teams. 

The Pipers batted out 13 hits to win the opener.  Rubbelke, who pushed her average to .385 with three hits on the night, singled home a pair of runs in the second inning as HU grabbed an early 3-0 lead. The Scots scored twice in the third but those were the only runs Sarah DeMars (8-6) would allow.  Orrell doubled home a pair in the fourth and the Pipers added three in the fifth to put the game out of reach. Rubbelke and Orrell, who leads the team with a .418 batting average, each had RBIs in the frame.

In the second game, HU jumped to a 6-1 lead midway through the game. Couillardm who moved to seventh place all-time in Hits with 137, plated a couple with a single. The Scots made things tight with four runs in the fourth to make it 6-5 but Rubbelke cemented matters with a solo home run -- her fourth of the season. Anderson pitched the entire game to earn the win, her 10th of the season against six losses. 

Hamline has little time to rest on its laurels. The Pipers face St. Mary's (18-14, 7-9 MIAC) Saturday at Meredith Field. 

The doubleheader  begins at 1:00 p.m.