GOSHEN, Ind. — A pair of early leads in Tuesday's doubleheader had the Goshen College baseball team feeling positive, but the lead at the end is what counts, and Bethel College came away with all three victories Monday and Tuesday in a Crossroads League series at Sarge Yoder Field.

GAME 1: Bethel 3, Goshen 0 (box score)

Pilot starter Justin Rasmussen fired a 9-inning, 6-hit complete game to shut out the Maple Leafs in the series opener. A Mason Love double put Bethel on top in the third inning, with the visitors adding an insurance run via wild pitch, and Kawambee Moss singled to round out the scoring by making it 3-0 in the fourth.

Goshen put its first two runners on base in the fifth inning, bringing the tying run to the plate with no outs, but was unable to solve Rasmussen for further progress. Colby Malson went 3 for 4 for GC while Clinton Stroble II posted 2 hits, including a double.

Camm Nickell struck out 10 batters in a 5-inning start: Kyle Kotecki added an inning of scoreless relief and Kade Gorman struck out 4 over 3 frames.

GAME 2: Bethel 9, Goshen 6 (box score)

Goshen opened the game with a 1-2-3 top of the first and a 5-run bottom of the inning that included doubles by Stroble and Ben Longacre, staking starting pitcher Braedon Evans to a 5-0 lead. The insurance run came with nobody out in the third, when Colby Malson's second run-scoring hit of the day knocked in Tanner Logan after a leadoff walk.

The Pilots had scored their first three runs in the top half of that inning when a fielding error kept the line moving for Moss' two-out, two-run double. Brandon Diss added a sacrifice fly. After two more scoreless frames, a Mike Wathier sac fly got Bethel back on the scoreboard in the sixth and Rocci Beebe tied the score with a one-out single. With the game scheduled for 7 innings, the 6-6 tie sent it to extras and shortened the finale to 7 innings.

Diss' single back through the box capped Bethel's rally in the eighth with the third hit of the inning. Jake Wilburn's single had opened the scoring, which all happened with one out. Goshen went down in order after a leadoff walk to Wilson.

Stroble and Malson each had multiple hits for GC, with Malson driving in a pair. While nine of Bethel's 10 hits were singles, four Pilots had two hits apiece and Wilburn reached twice via single and walk. Andrew Bobeck posted BC's second complete-game win of the series.

GAME 3: Bethel 10, Goshen 7 (box score)

The Maple Leafs took three-run leads at 3-0 in the fourth inning and 6-3 after six before coming back to tie the score in the seventh, but one swing of the bat erased the Maple Leafs' work and sent the visiting fans home happy.

Kody McGuire's double opened the scoring by driving in Stroble and Wilson in the bottom of the first, three frames before Anthony Todaro's base hit knocked in McGuire. With four innings in the books, starting pitcher Malson had kept Bethel to one runner reaching as far as third base.

The Pilots tied things in the fifth, getting three walks out of the first four batters to load the bases with one away. They added one run on a fielder's choice and a second via error before Adams' double scored Moss to tie the game.

Evan Creager's two-run single stretched Goshen's lead back out to three runs in the sixth inning after previous singles by Wilson and Austin Bontrager, and a two-out walk to Bobby Garcia set the stage for more by loading the bases once again. A fly ball to right field, however, forced the Leafs to turn things back over to the bullpen.

BC wasted little time getting started in the seventh, getting a walk and two singles to plate one run and prompt a pitching change. Wathier's double tied the score and a Jake Schalasky base hit put the visitors back in front before Kyle Staelgraeve retired the last two men in the inning to keep the damage to 7-6.

Much like Bethel's first rally, Goshen's comeback was buoyed by bases on balls: Stroble, Wilson and Bontrager all got free passes, loading the bases with one out for an Anthony Todaro sacrifice fly. That flyout was the second out of the inning, though, leaving one chance to get the winning run home from third, and a strikeout sent the game to extra innings.

After a leadoff groundout to the pitcher's mound, a single and a walk set the stage for Love to drive a payoff pitch over the right-field wall and create the final score.

Goshen's six hits came from six players, with McGuire the only person to post an extra-base hit. McGuire, Todaro and Creager all drove in two runs: McGuire and Wilson each scored twice, with the latter adding two walks to his single.

Love drove in five Pilots with his single and homer: Moss scored three times, going 1 for 3 with 2 walks. Jose Madrid took the win in relief.

Following a rainout of Wednesday's scheduled doubleheader against Cleary University, Goshen is back in action this weekend for a three-game series at Marian University in Indianapolis. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. Friday with a doubleheader slated for 1 p.m. Saturday.