ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Hamline baseball team (6-12, 3-4 MIAC) earned another MIAC win this afternoon, splitting with Macalester (4-8, 4-8 MIAC) at CHS Field. The Pipers won the first game 5-2 and came just short of a comeback in game two, falling 7-5.
 
GAME 1: HAMLINE 5, MACALESTER 2
The Pipers used seven hits and seven walks in game one to walk away with their third conference win of the season. Zach Branson had an impressive outing for Hamline, pitching all seven innings, giving up just two runs on six hits while striking out five and walking none. This was the sophomore's second complete game of the season as he improves to 2-3 on the year.
 
First year Braeden Bourne and sophomore Avery Nelson each had two hits in the game and Nelson drove in two runs to pace the offense.
 
HU had a good chance to score in the first inning as first year Mac Enlow walked and Bourne singled, but they couldn't capitalize, as Enlow was caught at home trying to score on a wild pitch. The Pipers would score in the second inning, though, as junior Cullen Buck drove in senior Colton Peters who had doubled earlier in the inning.
 
A pair of hits and a sacrifice fly for the Scots in the third tied the game up at one, but Hamline would answer in a big way with four runs in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-1.  Bourne started the inning with a double and stole third, scoring when first year Gavin Renwick singled. A single from Nelson would score two and a bases-loaded walk from first year Colin Schuetz provided the last run of the inning.
 
A solo home run in the sixth was all that Branson would allow in the final four innings, retiring the Scots in order in the seventh to secure the win.
 
GAME 2: MACALESTER 7, HAMLINE 5
In game two, Hamline scored five runs late in the game, and left the bases loaded in the eighth and a runner on in the ninth, as the Scots were able to hold on to their lead, winning 7-5.
 
The Pipers were outhit 14-9 in the game, but HU was able to still have plenty of baserunners, stranding 13 in the contest. The top of the order carried much of the load in this game for Hamline, as Buck went 3-5, Schuetz went 2-5, and Enlow went 2-4 with a pair of RBIs. Senior Zack Langton and first year Matt Rusch also had a hit each for the Pipers.
 
The first part of the game would belong to Macalester as they scored all seven of their runs in the first three innings. After that, however, the Hamline bullpen went to work, as first year Xavier Bembnister, sophomore Hayden Ring, and first year Elijah Erickson combined for six innings of scoreless relief.
 
A triple from Enlow in the fifth got HU on the board, scoring Schuetz and Peters to make it 7-2. Langton would drive in a run in the seventh to make it 7-3, and an RBI single from Buck, who would later score on a wild pitch, made it a two-run game with an inning still to go.
 
In the ninth, Rusch singled with only one out, but the Scots were able to record the final two outs, preserving their 7-5 lead to get a split.
 
Junior Will Tzavaras started on the mound for HU and would take the loss, moving to 2-2 on the season.
 
The Pipers will look to win the series with Macalester, heading down the road to take on the Scots tomorrow, April 18, at 11:30 a.m.