UPLAND, Ind. — Nate Lange had two hits and Reece Willis doubled from the leadoff spot Saturday as the Goshen College baseball team dropped a doubleheader against Taylor University at Winterholter Field. The Trojans won by scores of 14-2 and 6-1.
Taylor (15-6, 4-0 Crossroads League) jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the first inning and broke the third game of the series open late against the Maple Leaf bullpen. Goshen (0-7, 0-4) scored first in the second game, but the Trojans came back and added 6 runs late despite finishing the game with three hits.
Senior Colton Daniel drew the starting assignment for the Maple Leafs in the opener, taking the ball in the first inning for the fifth time in his 63 career appearances. Though Taylor put the first four batters on base and scored two runs in the opening inning, Daniel held the Trojans to 1-for-19 at the plate after that, retiring 11 of the last 13 batters he faced through five innings.
The Maple Leafs, who were the designated home team for the doubleheader despite playing at Taylor due to field conditions, got their run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Lange got a one-out single and scored when Ryan Glithero was hit by a pitch to close the gap to 2-1.
GC went to the bullpen to start the sixth inning and got a scoreless frame before giving up two unearned runs in the seventh. The Trojans scored their final 11 runs in the last two innings off four Goshen pitchers.
Luke Shively got the win for Taylor after allowing one run on two hits in 5 innings. Mitch Ubelhor and Drake Gongwer combined to allow 2 hits in relief. Eleven Taylor players had hits: Conner Crawford came within a home run of the cycle and TJ Bass homered with a game-high 4 runs batted in.
Willis' leadoff walk led to the icebreaking run for the Maple Leafs in the third inning of game two; he took second base on a bunt before Lange singled him in for a 1-0 lead.
Taylor loaded the bases after two errors in the fourth; while the miscues produced unearned runs, the tallies still counted on the scoreboard to give the Trojans a 2-1 lead. Taylor also plated three earned runs in the fifth without the benefit of a hit and added an insurance tally in the top of the seventh.
Luke Carlson, Garrett Simmons and Matt Dutkowski combined on the win for Taylor: Simmons took the victory in middle relief after striking out six of the nine men he faced. Dutkowski also drove in two men at the plate while Crawford's double was TU's only extra-base hit.
Kyle Staelgraeve got the start for GC and worked 4 2/3 innings with three earned runs for GC. Peyton Smith tossed a scoreless inning-and-a-third while Keegan Kwong finished the game with a hitless frame.
Goshen is idle this week until its next Crossroads League series comes down the pike at the weekend. The Maple Leafs will travel to Indianapolis to take on Marian University at the MU Ballpark in a pair of doubleheaders beginning at 3:30 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday.
