UPLAND, Ind. — Travis Grimm gave up two runs in his first six innings of work Friday, but the seventh and eighth were a different story as Huntington University knocked off Goshen College 12-1 in the opening round of the Crossroads League baseball tournament at Taylor University's Winterholter Field.

The third-seeded Foresters and sixth-seeded Maple Leafs drew the honor of starting the six-day, 14-or-15-game event, with the first pitch to Maple Leaf leadoff man Brad Stoltzfus coming a minute before 10 a.m. local time. Stoltzfus singled to right, one of two hits in the inning for the Maple Leafs (22-28, 12-15), but a double play erased GC's scoring chance.

Huntington (19-22, 16-10) broke the seal on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third, 40 minutes into the tournament. A leadoff walk and a one-out single left runners on the corners for Adam Roser, who lined a base hit to right to give his team a 2-0 lead with two men away. After each team stranded runners in the fourth, Goshen got one run back with two singles in the fifth as Cody McCoy scored on a fielding error after Nolan Holcomb singled to left.

Grimm set down the side in both the fifth and sixth innings, striking out eight on 112 pitches, before the Foresters put a 7-spot on the scoreboard off four Goshen pitchers in the seventh to take a 9-1 lead. Logan Jones got two outs in the bottom of the eighth before Nick Davit's two-run homer ended the game via run rule.

Ben Longacre recorded a pair of doubles and Clinton Stroble II added another one for GC, which got seven hits from six players. In addition to Stoltzfus' single, the first baseman also drew his 111th career walk, putting him more than 25 percent of the way above the record of 88 set by 2017 alum Vincent Caschera.

Center fielder Donovan Clark paced Huntington with three hits (all singles) and three runs scored. Roser drove in four runs: Davit and Adrian Perez each knocked in three on two hits apiece. Connor West struck out eight in seven innings to get the win.

Huntington's win set an example by both winner and margin for the rest of the day, which saw the designated home team win three of the four games in lopsided fashion. The exception was almost predictable in its unpredictability: eighth-seeded Saint Francis, which needed a Bethel extra-inning win over Grace on the final day of the season to make the tournament, edged top-seeded Indiana Wesleyan 3-2 on a ninth-inning hit batter.

Action continues Saturday with all eight teams returning for a second day in the double-elimination event: Goshen faces Mount Vernon Nazarene at 10 a.m. in an elimination game, with the winner surviving to meet Huntington or Taylor on Monday.

Crossroads League Tournament - Friday Results
#3 Huntington 16, #6 Goshen 6
#2 Taylor 19, #7 Mount Vernon Nazarene 1
#8 Saint Francis 3, #1 Indiana Wesleyan 2
#5 Marian 14, #4 Spring Arbor 2

Crossroads League Tournament - Saturday Schedule
#6 Goshen vs. #7 Mount Vernon Nazarene, 10 a.m. (loser eliminated)
#2 Taylor vs. #3 Huntington, 1 p.m.
#5 Marian vs. #8 Saint Francis, 4 p.m.
#1 Indiana Wesleyan vs. #4 Spring Arbor, 7 p.m. (loser eliminated)

Crossroads League Tournament - Monday Schedule
GC/MVNU winner vs. TU/HU loser, 10 a.m. (loser eliminated)
IWU/SAU winner vs. MU/USF loser, 1 p.m. (loser eliminated)
TU/HU winner vs. MU/USF winner, 4 p.m. (winner to championship on Tuesday)
10 a.m. winner vs. 1 p.m. winner, 7 p.m. (loser eliminated)