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Box Score 3 EMERSON, Ga. — Ben Longacre recorded seven hits and Chandler Ingle fired his first collegiate complete game over the weekend as Goshen College split a four-game series with Cleary University at LakePoint Sporting Community in metropolitan Atlanta.
Travis Grimm posted the other win for the Maple Leafs (5-7), going 6 1/3 innings with three runs and four hits on Friday. Ryan Hartig's six hits and Clinton Stroble II's five helped GC to a .318 batting average over the two-day set, which saw Stroble lead the team with five runs batted in.
Click on the bold links below to see box scores from each of the four games.
FRIDAY: Cleary 7, Goshen 6 (box score)
Goshen scored first and led 6-1 in the sixth, but the Cougars laughed last with a six-run comeback in the lid-lifter. Hartig proved the initial spark plug, reaching base on a second-inning single before advancing 90 feet at a time on a throwing error and two groundouts. He drove in the second run an inning later with a single, knocking in Longacre after a leadoff walk.
The Maple Leafs tacked on a pair of runs in both the fifth and sixth innings, using sacrifice flies from Hartig and Colby Malson to knock in Cody McCoy and Longacre in the former. Gil Robles' triple factored in both runs of the sixth, scoring Brighton Schofield before Robles crossed the plate on a fielding error off the bat of McCoy.
Cleary scored three runs to pull within 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth; two were unearned after a pair of GC infielding miscues. The last three Cougar runs came after two outs in the bottom of the seventh, with a single and a walk followed by a two-run double from James Edwards and a game-winning hit from Jordan Leyder.
Leyder finished 4-for-4 with three doubles and four runs batted in for CU, accounting for more than a third of his team's hits. Edwards, Alexander Lopez and Jamar Bray each finished with two hits each. Hartig and Robles each paced Goshen with two hits; Longacre and Stroble both doubled. Braedon Evans started and worked six innings of four-run baseball.
FRIDAY: Goshen 5, Cleary 3 (box score)
Cleary got on the board without a hit in the first inning, but 11 of the game's 14 hits came in the last three innings as the Maple Leafs leveled the series with a victory. William Lovell opened the game taking first on a hit batter before stealing second, taking third on a groundout and scoring on a fielding error, but Grimm and Cougar starter Brett Walcutt combined to limit batters to two hits and three walks in the next three innings.
Much like their foes in the opener, Goshen scored three runs with two outs in the fifth inning: McCoy and Longacre both singled before Stroble cleared the bases with a double, and Hartig chipped in a two-bagger of his own to run the score to 3-1.
Each team left runners on base in the sixth before GC strung three hits together for a pair of insurance tallies in the seventh. Longacre started the parade with a single, followed in turn by a Stroble double and two walks to load the bases. Kody McGuire put his team up 5-1 with a single, but the inning ended with the sacks still packed after a strikeout and a flyout.
The bottom of the frame started innocuously enough as Grimm retired leadoff man Dakota Adkins on a groundout. Cleary would put its next three runners on base, though, with a two-run Bray double brought the tying run to the plate in a 5-3 game.
With Grimm out of the game, relief pitcher Colton Daniel slammed the door with a strikeout and a groundout. The sophomore Texan recorded his first career save in his 20th appearance.
Sander was the lone Cougar with two hits, including a double, as the team mustered four. Bray drove in all three Cougar runs. The top third of Goshen's order recorded seven of the nine Maple Leaf hits, three from Longacre and two each from McCoy and Stroble. Stroble knocked in three runners and scored twice.
SATURDAY: Cleary 6, Goshen 3 (box score)
Cleary put four runs on the board with two outs and never looked back Saturday, posting a 6-3 win despite eight Goshen hits.
The Maple Leafs used three straight singles to load the bases with one out and the middle of the order up in the third inning. Longacre popped out to second before Stroble drove in Goshen's first two runs with a single and brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the person of Hartig, who put the ball in the outfield but was retired by the center fielder.
The Cougars got those two runs back in the fifth, starting the inning off with back-to-back singles before scoring on a pair of ground balls. Longacre and Hartig teamed up with a triple and a single to pull Goshen back within 6-3 in the sixth, but that would be as far as the Leafs could get on the scoreboard.
Gunnar Gail went the distance while allowing eight hits without a walk, getting help from four teammates with two hits each. John Grable singled twice and stole three bases, while Jordan Hadley's hits were both doubles.
Chase Hunter and Nolan Holcomb each posted a pair of hits for GC, scoring the two runs in the third inning. Longacre's triple was GC's lone extra-base hit. After Kyle Staelgrave drew the start and worked 4 2/3 innings, Logan Jones retired seven batters with two walks and a hit to close the game.
SATURDAY: Goshen 5, Cleary 0 (box score)
After three straight three-batter half-innings to start the finale, Goshen put five runs on the board in the second inning, more than enough help for Ingle to get his second pitching win of the week.
Hartig opened both the hitting and the scoring for the Maple Leafs, doubling to center. Colby Malson followed that with a single to left which eluded the outfielder, allowing Hartig to score and Malson to take third base. That runner was erased at the plate on a wild pitch, but three walks quickly reloaded the bases and enabled a second run to come in on a balk. Todaro singled to score the third run before Longacre doubled to left for the fourth and fifth tallies.
The early outburst gave Goshen five runs; Cleary would muster a total of six baserunners as Ingle stymied the offense. The Cougars went down in order in each of the first three innings as well as in the fifth; while the first two men reached in the fourth, the next three batters kept the ball in the infield as the inning ended without incident.
The three Cleary hits tied for the fewest allowed in a complete-game Maple Leaf shutout in the last two-plus seasons since Eli Grimes spun a one-hitter against Grace on March 26, 2015. Evans twirled a three-hitter against Bethel last April Fools' Day, walking one, while Blake Collins gave up three singles for his only three baserunners at Huntington on April 23, 2016.
Longacre, Hartig and Malson each finished with two hits for GC: Longacre doubled twice and Hartig once. Brandon Vires added his first career hit with a pinch-hit single in the fifth inning.
Up Next: Goshen wraps up its spring-break trip Sunday against Robert Morris at UC Health Stadium in Florence, Kentucky. First pitch is set for 11 a.m.