MISHAWAKA, Ind. — Ben Longacre left the building twice, Colby Malson recorded two saves and Travis Grimm allowed a single run in seven innings as Goshen College swept Bethel College 3-1 and 8-5 Thursday in a Crossroads League baseball doubleheader at the Pilots' Jenkins Stadium.

Longacre broke the scoring seal two batters into the opening game, pulling a 1-2 pitch from Pilot starter Josh King down the left-field line for his third home run of the season to put Goshen (14-17, 6-7) up 1-0.

On a morning where the mercury checked in at 33 degrees when the first pitch was thrown at 11:02 a.m., the pitchers held the upper hand for much of game one as Longacre's hit was the only one for either team through the first four innings.

The Pilots (10-19, 2-11) drew a leadoff walk from Mike Wathier to start their half of the fifth inning. Jesse Zepeda moved the runner into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt that became a single when he beat the throw; two batters later, Sean Luzon laced a single to left to tie the score.

Each team went down in order throughout the balance of the seven-inning game with the exception of a two-out Pilot walk in the seventh, sending the game to extra innings.

Goshen chased King with a one-hitter still intact but no outs in the eighth after Cody McCoy reached on an error and Kody McGuire walked. With the go-ahead run in scoring position, both teams turned to their bullpens: the Pilots brought Brandon Boshaw in to pitch, while Maple Leaf head coach Alex Childers summoned game-two starter Chandler Ingle for his first plate appearance in 13 months.

Ingle's sacrifice bunt to the right side, Goshen's third of the season, moved the runners to second and third with one away. Two pitches later, Chase Hunter uncorked the first extra-base hit of his college career with a bases-clearing double for a 3-1 lead.

The Maple Leafs went down without any additional insurance runs in the inning, turning the baseball over to Malson after 80 pitches and two hits allowed by Grimm. Andrew Miranda's one-out single was the only Pilot offense in the bottom of the inning as Malson closed out the win.

Grimm walked two and struck out three while facing 24 batters, earning his sixth win of the season and his fourth victory in conference play. The win was the 13th of his career, pushing the senior into a tie for ninth on Goshen's career win list.

King drew the short straw for Bethel, suffering the loss while striking out 10 and conceding two earned runs on one hit and three walks.

If the pitchers claimed game one, the hitters got revenge in game two, combining for 17 hits, 12 walks and 13 runs including four multiple-run half-innings in a game that was shortened from nine innings to seven after the opener required extra innings.

A hit batter, a fielder's choice and a two-run single put the Pilots up 2-0 after an inning as Andrew Bobeck held Goshen without a hit its first time through the order. The Maple Leafs went from being no-hit to being tied in a four-pitch span, however, as a Brad Stoltzfus single set Longacre up for his second homer of the day with one out in the third. Colby Malson's double three batters later drove in Hartig as Goshen took a 3-2 lead.

Bethel responded with single runs in each of the next three innings, leveling the game on a Wathier home run three pitches into the bottom of the third and taking the lead on his fourth-inning double. Goshen reclaimed the lead at 5-4 with a two-run fifth that started with a Longacre walk and a Hartig double to put two runners into scoring position. After Malson grounded out and tied the score, Cody McCoy's first hit of the day put the visitors back in front.

With Goshen ahead for the second straight game, GC went back to the bullpen for relief ace Colton Daniel to make his team-high 12th appearance. The Pilots came back to tie the score after a Syam Lufi single and two fielding errors, but the Maple Leaf bats would pick up their gloves in the sixth inning.

Hunter led off the inning with a double to left-center before moving to third on a Stoltzfus groundout. Bethel put Longacre on first base with an intentional walk rather than risk allowing a third home run, but that move left two men in scoring position after Clinton Stroble II doubled to score Hunter and move Longacre to third.

Another intentional walk put Hartig at first to load the bases: while Malson's strikeout did little to advance the offense, it left the bases loaded for McCoy to drive in another run with the third walk of the inning, this one unintentional. Kody McGuire hit into a fielder's choice to short to score a third run for the 8-5 lead before pinch-hitter Brighton Schofield struck out swinging.

While the three-run sixth put GC in front for a third time, it also nearly backfired: nine men came to bat in the inning, forcing the Maple Leafs to pinch-hit for their pitcher when his spot came up with two away and in turn prompting a pitching change. But Camm Nickell set the middle third of the Pilot lineup down in order in the sixth, striking out his first two batters, before Malson moved to the mound and posted two lineouts to get through the seventh.

Hunter finished with three hits for Goshen in game two, leaving the Central Noble High School graduate with four hits on the day to triple his career total. Hartig finished 2 for 2 with a double while Malson, Longacre and Stroble each had one hit for extra bases.

Wathier paced the Pilot offense with a double and a homer while Lafi and Luke Adams rapped two singles apiece: all three men drew walks.

Neither starter factored into the decision: despite allowing the tying run, Daniel claimed his second victory of the year after Goshen's three-run sixth while Justin Rasmussen took the loss as a result of the same inning. Malson got his sixth save of the season, moving within one of Spenser Triplett's season record set last spring.

The teams will take Friday off before reconvening to close the series with a single game at 1 p.m. Saturday.