BOX SCORES: GAME ONE | GAME TWO

ST PAUL – After winning eight of its last nine contests, Bethel University was anxious to travel to St. Paul Tuesday to take on Macalester in a premier matchup between the No. 3 and 4 seeds in the conference. At the end of the day though, the Royals left Nicholson Field with a sour feeling, after losing both games by one run.
 
The first game started in BU's favor, as the Royals put up two runs on three hits out of the chute. The Scots narrowed the gap in the bottom of the second and propelled ahead in the bottom of the third to take the 3-2 lead after three. Macalester added one more in the fifth, however, Bethel fought back with two runs in the top of the sixth on RBI's from Jesse Nickols (Jr., Arden Hills, Minn.) and Nik Anderson (Fr., Arden Hills, Minn.). Both competitors went scoreless in the seventh and eighth inning, before drama filled the stadium in the ninth. BU scored the go-ahead run on a Matt Rowley (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.) single to make the score 5-4 heading into the bottom of the ninth, and despite getting the first two Macalester batters to record an out, the Scots found a way to plate two runners in the final frame to end game one 6-5.
 
The Royals finished the first game with eight hits by six different batters, as Travis Piepho (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn.) and Matt Rowley led the way with two. Rowley also tallied two runs batted in, while Luke Schultz (So., Forest Lake, Minn.), Nickols, and Anderson each batted in another.
 
Bethel utilized four pitchers in the opener, as starter David Anderson (Sr., Willmar, Minn.) went 4.1 innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits and three walks. Austin Hanson (Jr., Mounds View, Minn.) pitched a scoreless 1.1, before David Freed (Jr., North Oaks, Minn.) came in to pitch the final three innings.
 
Game two was similar in feel, as the Royals trailed 3-0 early, but came back to take the lead 4-3, however, managed to surrender two runs late to lose another one-run affair 5-4.
 
Down three runs in the fifth inning, BU started the frame with a Jesse Nickols double to left, followed by a David Freed double to right. With two outs and one run, Bethel poured on three more when Rowley singled, Jay Slick (Sr., River Falls, Wis.) walked, Luke Schultz walked, and Mike Sedjo (Sr., West Chicago, Ill.) singled to right field.
 
The Royals had two outs and a runner on facing the opposing Scots again in the bottom of the fifth, but a clutch single and double by Macalester helped the home team regain the lead and never look back, which resulted in a 5-4 Macalester College victory.
 
Three multi-hit games for Bethel aided the Royals to another eight-hit performance. In game two, David Freed and Matt Rowley went 2-for-4, while Nickols went 2-for-3.
 
Rowley toed the pitching rubber the entire six innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on 10 hits. The junior out of Minnetonka, Minn. struck out five and allowed zero free passes, but received just his second loss of the season.
 
The BU baseball squad will look to salvage the week as it heads to Collegeville, Minn. Saturday to take on the 4-2 Johnnies. Today's pair of losses drops Bethel to 5-3 within MIAC play and 14-9 overall.