GOSHEN, Ind. — Katherine Boyer and Sandra Rodriguez hit back-to-back homers three pitches apart on Friday afternoon as the Goshen College softball team took another step toward qualifying for the Crossroads League tournament with a doubleheader split against Spring Arbor University at the John Ingold Athletic Complex. The Maple Leafs won the opener 3-1 and dropped the nightcap 4-2.

Alexis Carpenter spun a complete game for the Maple Leafs (16-33-1, 8-22-1) on her senior day, giving up six hits and a single earned run in seven innings and 113 pitches. Her 16th career win moves her into a tie with 2000 graduate Kari Fryar for the fourth-most victories in school history.

Maddison Brock opened the scoring for the Cougars (23-23, 17-17) with a two-out double in the fourth inning to score Hannah VanManen before another Goshen senior, Brooke Maes, drove in her 150th career run to plate Sandra Rodriguez in the bottom of the inning.

Goshen took the lead for good in the fifth after singles from Taylor Sutliff and Rianna Koteles: Boyer doubled to the right-field warning track to drive them both in for a 3-1 lead that would become the final score.

The Lancers got the tying run in scoring position in the sixth after two two-out hits and a fielding error before Carpenter retired the last four batters she faced.

Each team posted six hits, with Brock recording the only multi-hit game; Sutliff and Leah Herrman both reached base twice for Goshen. SAU starter Kelsey Brown also went the distance, walking three and striking out two.

Goshen's back-to-back jacks in the nightcap put the hosts up 2-0 after an inning, but SAU mustered the final 13 hits of the game in a comeback win. The Cougars left the bases loaded in the second and stranded a two-out double in the third before a three-run blast from Jessica Marwede gave them their first lead of the game with no outs in the fourth.

SAU tacked on a run in the sixth inning after Hannah Rozeveld's one-out single and Brown's double off the right-field wall.

While the Cougars finished with 13 hits, they drew just one walk and left nine runners on base; besides the run-scoring plays, the only extra-base hits in the game came from VanManen and SAU's Jordan Burman. Lauren Heath turned in a complete-game win for SAU, giving up four hits and two walks in a 90-pitch outing.

Goshen's rewriting of the record books wasn't limited to the circle, either: Boyer's homer put her in the top 10 on the single-season lists in hits (48) and runs batted in (28), while Rodriguez is now tied for sixth with six dingers this season and tied for seventh with nine in her career. Additionally, Herrman drew her 14th walk of the season to pull into a six-way tie for ninth.

The Maple Leafs' third senior, Candace Sutter, drew a walk in each game: she was unable to advance her position on the steals list, where she stands in sixth for a career and eighth for a season.

Goshen visits Grace for a doubleheader Saturday: the Maple Leafs enter play as the last team into the conference tournament, while the Lancers are one game behind and the first team out with four games per side remaining. If Goshen sweeps the twinbill, it will seal a playoff position, while a Grace sweep would move the Lancers within one win (or Maple Leaf loss) of tournament play. A split would leave the outcome hanging in the balance until Monday, when both schools finish their seasons.

First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at Miller Field in Winona Lake.