GOSHEN, Ind. — McKinzi Vega's eighth-inning pinch-hit walk-off single gave the Goshen College softball team its third straight bounce-back doubleheader split Thursday as the Maple Leafs topped Grace College 6-5 at the John Ingold Athletic Complex.

The Maple Leafs (14-25, 6-14) also had the upper hand early in game one, scoring the first run of the contest for a lead that held up until the fifth inning. Grace (10-20, 4-12) scored four times in a two-inning span to claim the 4-1 win in the opener.

Thursday marked the third time in as many days and fifth time this season that Goshen lost the first game of a doubleheader before winning the second: the Maple Leafs turned that trick three times in 2017 and five times in the last two years combined.

Courtney Crapser put the hosts up 1-0 with the lone single of the first inning, knocking leadoff batter Cassandra Espinoza in after three of the first five GC batters drew walks. The teams combined for seven hits and nine runners left aboard over the next three innings, but neither side broke through for a run as the hosts led 1-0 at the midway point.

Ironically, Grace's first runs came in an inning that started with two straight outs. Goshen's luck would not last, though, as a pair of singles brought Chandler Elliott to the plate with the go-ahead run on base. Elliott doubled down the left-field line to tie the game before Ashley Kleinbub singled the other way to put the Lancers up 3-1.

Katherine Boyer started the Leaf fifth with a single to right and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch. Goshen's offense would get no further in the opener as the Lancers strung together two singles, a fielder's choice and a wild pitch for a run in the sixth to set the final score.

Grace finished the game with 13 hits, all but one of which were singles, with every starter save the leadoff batter getting a hit. Kleinbub led the team with three singles, followed by a trio with two. Goshen's Taylor Sutliff went 2 for 3 for the hosts' only multi-hit game.

That Lancer leadoff hitter, Hannah Herbster, wasted no time getting on base in the nightcap, albeit not with a hit. The outfielder reached base on an error to start game two as the Lancers got an unearned run in the first inning and scored on a sacrifice fly in the second for a 2-0 lead.

Goshen retaliated by loading the bases four batters into the third on singles from Candace Sutter, Espinoza and Brooke Maes. Boyer drew a walk to cut the deficit to 2-1 before a strikeout for the second out of the inning.

The honor of reversing the score fell to starting pitcher Rayna Moraga, who unleashed a double to right that tailed into the corner: with all three runners moving on the pitch, the hit cleared the bases and put the Maple Leafs up 3-2.

In the circle, however, Moraga would be lifted after a walk, a hit batter, and two singles brought in a Grace run to leave the bases loaded with no outs in the fourth. Maes moved in from right field and promptly stranded all three runners with a popout, a flyout and a groundout.

The Lancers evened the score with another four-hit, one-run inning in the fifth before setting up another scoring opportunity with a seventh-inning one-out triple by Emily Bobb. A squeeze bunt try resulted in Bobb being tagged out at the plate, however, and after a two-out single for each team later in the inning, it became apparent that an extra frame would be required.

Four Lancers batted in the eighth, and the visitors took the lead without hitting the ball farther than 40 feet. Herbster got on with a leadoff bunt single before stealing second and moved up 60 feet at a time on a pair of sacrifice hits for a 5-4 lead. With two out and the bases empty, Kleinbub took the first full swing of the inning and grounded out to Maes to bring Goshen up.

Maes started the bottom of the inning with a pop-up to third, but her teammates picked up the offense from there. Boyer singled to third on a line drive that dislodged the base before sailing into the outfield and Leah Herrman moved the winning run into scoring position with a double into left. Moraga's groundout inside the second-base bag produced the second out but brought Boyer in to tie the score, and Vega finished the job with a single into right-center that produced the win.

Boyer, Herrman and Espinoza each had two hits for the Maple Leafs; Moraga led all players with four runs batted in while Boyer scored twice. Maes took the win in relief after giving up two runs in five innings. Bobb and Abby Mozingo each hit safely three times for Grace.

After playing six complete games in a span of 52 hours, Goshen has an off day Friday before hosting Indiana Wesleyan for a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday.

UPDATE (Friday, 2:05 p.m.): Goshen's scheduled doubleheader Saturday against Indiana Wesleyan has been postponed due to forecast rain. No makeup date was announced. The Maple Leafs now visit Saint Francis at 1 p.m. Sunday for a twinbill in Fort Wayne.

UPDATE (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.): Sunday's games have also been rescheduled to Monday, April 30. The Maple Leafs are slated to embark upon a four-game homestand, playing Mount Vernon Nazarene at 3 p.m. Tuesday and Taylor at 3 p.m. Thursday, before visiting Bethel next weekend.