GOSHEN, Ind. — Brighton Schofield's first career home run broke a 1-1 tie and sparked a 5-run third inning in the opener while Clinton Stroble II finished a 4-run comeback with a grand slam in the nightcap as the Goshen College baseball team swept Mount Vernon Nazarene University 6-1 and 7-6 Monday at Sarge Yoder Field.

Braedon Evans pitched 6 1/3 innings of 1-run baseball in game one, working around 11 Mount Vernon Nazarene hits by allowing just one for extra bases and not walking a batter.

Ben Longacre and Mitchell Wilson each recorded a pair of singles for Goshen (16-26, 10-14), which got two runs from Longacre and a 2-run single off the bat of Austin Bontrager.

Mount Vernon Nazarene (32-15, 15-8) got two hits apiece from Chris Kline, Jake Glover, Brandt Miller and Billy Cooper.

The Maple Leafs opened the scoring with two singles and a wild pitch in the bottom of the first, only for the Cougars to pull level on a Glover single and an Ashton Myers double in the third.

Schofield untied the score on the first pitch of the bottom of the third inning, starting a run of seven straight Maple Leafs reaching base. Colby Malson and Longacre each singled before Stroble was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Base hits by Wilson and Tanner Logan shifted every runner up 90 feet before Bontrager knocked in two to take a 6-1 lead.

Mark Rader came out of the Cougar bullpen and retired the first three batters he faced to quell the threat, but MVNU's offense was unable to score off either Evans or reliever Colton Daniel.

The Maple Leafs also scored first in the second game, getting a fielding error to plate pinch-runner Bobby Garcia after Stroble singled in the first inning. MVNU answered with the next three runs, picking up an infield RBI single in the second inning and a two-run Myers homer in the third, to take a 2-1 lead, before Stroble doubled and Logan singled to tie the game at 3-3 after three innings.

MVNU pulled ahead with single runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings, while the Maple Leafs put runners in scoring position three times over that span without scoring.

Thankfully for the hosts, the final game of a Crossroads League series is scheduled for 9 innings rather than 7, because the eighth inning would be a boon to Goshen's playoff chances.

Pinch-hitter Bailey Owens started the line moving with a one-out walk and took second base on a Colby Malson single. Longacre added a base hit to left, loading the bases, before Stroble parked the 0-1 pitch to the right of the 380 sign in dead center field to take the lead.

The Cougars went down without a hit in the ninth inning, although since Malson had taken the mound in the eighth, he got the win rather than extending his program record for saves.

Each team finished with 11 hits as Stroble and Glover led the way with three apiece. Stroble drove in a game-high 5 runs; his spot in the order scored 3 times as well, with Garcia getting credit for two of those. Malson, Longacre and Bontrager each finished with 2 hits.

The victories moved Goshen to within one game of clinching a spot in next month's Crossroads League tournament, although the schedule will prevent them from actually clinching a berth before Friday. The Maple Leafs will guarantee a fourth straight season of postseason participation with a win over Grace or losses by both Bethel and Saint Francis.

Goshen is off this week for final exams before traveling to Winona Lake, Indiana, for its last series of the regular season this weekend. Due to the weather forecast, the series schedule has been shifted to a doubleheader at 2 p.m. Friday and a single game at 1 p.m. Saturday.