ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College softball team has qualified for the MIAC Playoffs for the first time since the creation of the playoff system in 2004 and will play at No. 18 Bethel University in the first round on Thursday, May 8. The historic game will be played at Bethel's Ona Orth Athletic Complex on Thursday at 4:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to the semifinals on Saturday, May 11 at Saint Mary's University in Winona, Minn.

This season the Scots registered the program's most overall and MIAC wins since 1996 by compiling a 25-15 record and going 12-10 in conference play. The conference mark put Macalester in sixth place in the final MIAC standings for the last playoff spot, one game ahead of seventh-place Augsburg. Along with making the MIAC Playoffs, the season was highlighted by juniors Sophie Futchko (Prince Frederick, Md./Huntingtown) and Renee Nicholson (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) both recording their 100th career hits in the same game, and head coach Jody Gabriel earning her 300th victory of her coaching career.

The Scots are led offensively by Nicholson, who ranks second in the MIAC with a batting average of .419 and is fifth in the league with 35 runs scored. First year Elizabeth Welch (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North) (.391, 28 runs batted in) and Futchko (.358, 11 doubles, 19 RBIs) also have had solid seasons at the plate. The pitching staff is led by first years Rileigh Morlock (Lincoln, Ill./Normal Community West) and Tess Bojorquez (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente). Morlock is 12-10 with an earned run average of 4.03 and 86 strikeouts in 121 2/3 innings pitched, while Bojorquez is 6-4 with 39 strikeouts in 60 innings and an ERA of 4.43.

In the doubleheader with Bethel earlier this season at the Macalester Softball Complex on April 27, the Royals won both games, 10-3 and 9-0. In Game 1 the Scots registered nine hits over the first six innings off three-time All-MIAC pitcher Kayla Simacek, but surrendered seven runs in the top of the seventh. Simacek is 23-6 with an ERA of 1.41 and 210 strikeouts in 183 1/3 innings, leading the MIAC in all of those categories. Abby Otterness is the Royals' main offensive weapon, batting .398 with five homers and 35 RBIs on the season.

Bethel (28-8, 17-5 MIAC) has won the past nine meetings against Macalester, with the Scots' last win coming in 2019. The Royals, who tied for first with Saint Mary's and Saint Benedict this season, are the two-time defending MIAC Playoff champions.

This is Macalester's highest finish in the conference since the 1997 squad also placed sixth and the most MIAC and overall wins since the 1996 team went 26-11 and took fourth in the MIAC with a 14-8 league record. The MIAC Playoffs began in 2004 as a four-team, double-elimination tournament before transitioning to a six-team tournament in 2021. In 2022 the league went to a six-team, single-elimination tournament, which is the current format.

This isn't the Scots' first time in the MIAC Playoffs. In 2013, weather limited the regular-season schedule, and it was decided to allow all 12 teams to participate in the postseason. Macalester lost both of its games, falling to top-seeded St. Thomas, 11-0 and losing a run-fest to eighth-seeded St. Catherine, 13-12.

The other first-round match-up features fourth-seeded St. Olaf hosting fifth-seeded Gustavus today at 4:30 p.m. in Northfield, Minn. The St. Olaf-Gustavus winner will face top-seeded Saint Mary's, while either Macalester or Bethel will take on Saint Benedict in the semifinals on Saturday, May 11 in Winona, Minn. The final is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Tickets for all MIAC Playoff games are $10 for adults and $2 for students with an ID. Children five and under are admitted free.

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2024 MIAC Softball Playoffs
First round - Thursday, May 9, 2024
Game 1: No. 5 Gustavus at No. 4 St. Olaf, 4:30 p.m.
Game 2: No. 6 Macalester at No. 3 Bethel, 4:30 p.m.

Semifinals/Finals - Saturday, May 11, 2024 (at Saint Mary's, Winona, Minn.)
Game 3: Winner of Game 1 at No. 1 Saint Mary's, 11:00 a.m.
Game 4: Winner of Game 2 vs. No. 2 Saint Benedict, 1:30 p.m.
Game 5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 4:00 p.m.