The baseball team began its 2002 season last Friday by splitting a double header with Central Methodist College (Mo.).

The Scots relied on a strong seven strikeout performance by starting pitcher Marcus Turner ’03 in the opener to win, 3-2.

In the nightcap, a three-run seventh inning by Central Methodist left the Scots on the short end of a 7-5 score.

Macalester began the season on the right foot as a single by Scott Bell ’03 with two outs drove in Joel Brettigen ’04 to give the Scots a 1-0 lead.

Turner began the game in dominating form, striking out four of the first six batters he faced. However, Central Methodist finally got the better of Turner in the third inning. With one out, John Derby’s fly to right field was misplayed by Paul Odegaard ’04, allowing Derby to reach second on the error. Tony Vestal then doubled to left, scoring Derby. Turner retired Blake Vanatta on a ground ball to third baseman Damon Dalheimer ’02, keeping Vestal at second, but a balk by Turner advanced the runner to third.

A single by Ty Moore to center scored Vestal, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead.

The Scots had a great chance get back on the scoreboard in the fourth inning after Brettigen led off the inning with a double and then advanced to third on a passed ball with no outs. Eagles pitcher Scott Nichols worked his way out of the jam, however, striking out cleanup hitter Jesse Calm ’02 and Bell before retiring Paul Odegaard with a ground ball to first base.

The Scots recaptured the lead in the sixth inning after Dahlheimer led off the inning with a single to right. Andy Odegaard ’02 then laid down a beautiful bunt and reached base. Brettigen then stepped up to the plate and delivered his third hit in three at-bats, tying the game at two after driving in Dahlheimer with a single to center.

Macalester’s rally appeared to lose its momentum after Calm hit into a double play, but Andy Odegaard, who advanced to third on the play, scored on a wild pitch by Nichols to give the Scots a 3-2 lead.

Turner held the Eagles’ bats in check in the sixth inning but ran into trouble in the seventh when Cammron Dowd led off the inning by reaching base on a bunt. Brandon Maddox popped out to Brettigen at second, but a single by Derby with one out put the winning run on base.

Turner, however, closed out the game by catching Vestal looking with his seventh strikeout of the game and got Vanatta to fly out to Paul Odegaard in right field to finish his complete-game win.

Turner scattered six hits over seven innings, giving up no walks and no earned runs.

For Central Methodist, Nichols gave up eight hits but struck out nine in the complete game effort.

In the nightcap, it was the Scots who stumbled late in the game in the 7-5 loss. Vanatta led off the game with a single off of Macalester righthander Scott Bell ’03 but advanced to third with no outs after stealing second and advancing on a passed ball. Moore drove in Vanatta with a sacrifice fly. Jamie Reed then tripled to left center and scored on a single by Clyde Ditto to make the score 2-0.

The Eagles increased their lead to 3-0 in the third when Moore scored off of another passed ball by catcher Clark Boyesen ’03 with two outs.

The Macalester bats solved Eagles’ righthander Mark Harvey in the third when Calm drove in Andy Odegaard with a two-out base hit to trim the deficit to 3-1.

The Scots made the score 3-2 in the fourth thanks to a poor fielding display by the Eagles. James Flinn ’04 reached base on a throwing error by Harvey with one out, then a ground ball by pinch hitter Josh Ortiz ’05 to shortstop was botched, allowing Flinn to scoe.

Macalester chased Harvey from the game in the fifth inning. Andy Odegaard led off the inning with a walk, then Brettigen singled and both runners advanced on an errant throw. Calm then singled to right, driving in Andy Odegaard but Brettigen was gunned down at the plate by a strong throw from Dowd.

Singles by Bell and Paul Odegaard loaded the bases with one out, and the Eagles replaced Harvey. Flinn drove in Calm with a sacrifice fly to right, giving Macalester a 4-3 lead before Marc Rodwogin ’05 struck out to end the inning.

The Eagles tied the game in the top of the sixth when Dowd’s two-out single drove in Marty Hauck.

Central Methodist broke the game open with a three-run top of the seventh. Marshall Mullenbach ’03 was brought in for Bell and retired Tim Cole with a fly ball to left field but surrendered a double to Vanatta on the next at-bat. After intentionally walking Moore, lefty Steve Derrington ’04 relieved Mullenbach.

Derrington was given a rude welcome by the Eagles when Jamie Reed smacked a double to right, scoring Vanatta. After holding the runners by forcing Ditto to ground back to him, Derrington surrendered a two-RBI single to Matt Griswold to make the score 7-4 to Central Methodist.

The Scots attempted to put together a two-out rally after Calm and Bell both struck out to lead off the inning. Paul Odegaard reached first after an infield single and pinch hitter Mike Merril ’05 advanced to second after his hit to center went past Vanatta, scoring Odegaard to make the score 7-5. The rally ended when Sam Polglase grounded out to short with two outs.

Bell lasted for six innings, giving up seven hits and three earned runs.

The Scots are hoping to return to the MIAC playoffs after narrowly missing out on a top four conference finish with a 10-10 conference record last season.

While Macalester has lost star shortstop Keenan Sue ’01 to graduation, the Scots return plenty of experience and are adding a strong mix of first-years.

The Scots return five players who batted over .300 last year: Brettigen, Calm, Paul Odegaard, Ty O’Connell ’02 and Bell.

Macalester also returns eight pitchers from 2001, including their top two starters Turner and Bell. Bell had a record of 4-1 with an ERA of 2.92 last season.