MISHAWAKA, Ind. — A 7-1 lead in the sixth inning of game one was not a sign of things to come for the Goshen College baseball team over the weekend as the Maple Leafs dropped a four-game series against Bethel University at Jenkins Stadium.
Bobby Garcia homered for the Maple Leafs, who had three 4-hit performances over the course of the weekend.
With the sweep, Bethel took a 7½-4 lead in the 2020-21 edition of the U.S. Highway 20 Cup rivalry trophy series. The total of 7½ points would usually clinch at least a tie for the cup; however, due to the cancellation of two soccer matches, there are only 14 points in play this year rather than the usual 15, so the Pilots have clinched bragging rights for the second straight season.
Recaps of the four games can be found below.
Friday afternoon: Bethel 9, Goshen 7, 11 innings (box score)
Nate Lange's leadoff double in the fourth inning started a two-run rally for the Maple Leafs, who took the lead on a Morgan Baker single and extended it on an Austin Bontrager sacrifice fly. Base hits by Kawambee Moss and Mike Wathier got the Pilots their first run in the bottom of the frame.
Goshen got an insurance run in the fifth inning when Gage Andrews reached on an error and moved up on singles from Brighton C. Schofield and Evan Creager. The next time that spot came up, in the sixth, Jenner Rodammer pinch-hit and laced a two-run single to push the lead to 5-1. Schofield added a sacrifice fly and Reece Willis knocked in a run for the aforementioned 7-1 lead.
Thomas Dolan's leadoff triple in the bottom of the sixth set the Pilots up for their next run, then Dolan singled and Moss doubled to drive in runs in the seventh, but Goshen still took a 7-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth, which started with two outs and a single. Eli MacDonald also singled and Wathier reached on an error to drive in the first run before Cole Searles' double tied the score.
After neither team scored in the 10th inning, Andrews added a one-out single for Goshen in the 11th. The Maple Leafs would not get another chance, though, as Searles ended the game with a first-pitch 2-run homer in the bottom of the inning.
Lange and Bontrager each had two hits and Camm Nickell added a double for Goshen. Dolan added three hits, everything but a homer, for Bethel while Dominic Deisler doubled twice.
Baylee Young started and pitched 6 2/3 innings for the Maple Leafs, striking out 7. Ty Mickiewicz took the win in relief for the hosts.
Friday evening: Bethel 7, Goshen 2 (box score)
The Pilots scattered 7 singles and turned them into 7 runs in the Friday nightcap, scoring twice in the third to take the lead and twice in the fifth to expand it before adding three runs in the sixth. Kawambee Moss drove in 4 runs with a pair of 2-run singles and Alex Stout went 2 for 2 with 3 runs scored.
Stout and Riley McElmeel started the third inning by reaching base on a single and a hit batter, respectively, before Moss knocked them in with a single to center. Camm Nickell's double and Jenner Rodammer's bunt hit put the tying runs on for GC in the fourth; Baker's sacrifice fly plated the first run, but the second was stranded.
Bethel put together a very similar rally to its first one in the fifth inning, again getting two baserunners and a sacrifice bunt before a Moss single. One of the two runs was unearned because of an error.
Schofield scored Goshen's second run of the game on a Creager sacrifice fly in the fifth before a pair of groundouts left the tying run at the plate.
Bethel's sixth inning would make it harder for Goshen to come back as the Pilots loaded the bases with one out. A hit batter, this time Stout, forced in one run before Moss' ground ball to third made it 6-2 and a throwing error brought in the final run.
Sullivan Swingley threw a complete game for the Pilots, striking out 3 and allowing 3 hits. Kyle Staelgraeve allowed 4 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings for GC with Eric Pettipiece finishing the pitching duties.
Saturday afternoon: Bethel 3, Goshen 0 (box score)
A pitchers' duel that had only two runners reach third base in the first six innings went the Pilots' way in the seventh and eighth. Eli MacDonald hit a 2-run homer in the eighth inning and the Maple Leafs brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth but were 0 for 2 with runners in scoring position.
Creager, Andrews and Willis each had singles for the Maple Leafs in the early going and Bontrager drew a walk in the fifth inning. Bethel's biggest threat came in the fourth, when two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases, but a force play nipped that rally in the bud.
The Pilots got their first run in the seventh when Jake Schalasky singled, took second on an error and crossed the plate on a Stout single. The insurance runs came an inning later on a Moss leadoff walk before MacDonald's homer.
GC brought the tying runs to the plate with one out in the ninth after an error and a Baker double, but a popout and a strikeout prevented the runs from scoring.
Justin Rasmussen took the win for BU, striking out 11 and allowing 4 hits in 7 shutout innings. Sam Lewandowski worked the ninth for the save. Kade Gorman allowed 1 run and struck out 6 in 7 innings of work for GC.
Saturday evening: Bethel 5, Goshen 2 (box score)
Lange and Bobby Garcia each had a pair of hits for the Maple Leafs, but Bethel broke a 2-2 tie on a double in the fourth inning and went on to sweep the series by stranding three Maple Leaf baserunners over the final two innings.
Garcia's second homer of the season was a solo shot to put Goshen up 1-0 in the second inning, but that lead didn't last two batters into the bottom of the frame before Jeremy Wiersema added a 2-run shot of his own to put the Pilots up 2-1.
The Maple Leafs tied the score in the fourth after a Pilot error when singles by Lange and Garcia plated Jenner Rodammer and moved two go-ahead runs into scoring position. Pilot starter Frank Plesac struck out the last batter of that inning, though, and his offense picked him up in the bottom of the frame as Wiersema smacked another RBI double.
Dolan and Moss started the bottom of the fifth with doubles, extending BU's lead to 4-2, before a walk set up a double play that moved Moss to third. Searles' single set the final score.
Lange, Baker and Willis all singled for GC in the last two innings but Plesac struck out 5 in that time span and finished the game with 14 against one walk. Ben Witterstaetter, Eric Pettipiece and Keegan Kwong all pitched for GC.
Up Next: Goshen hits the road again for its final road series of the conference season next weekend, traveling to Mount Vernon, Ohio to play Mount Vernon Nazarene at 2 p.m. on Friday and noon Saturday.
Update, 3:30 p.m. Wednesday: The series at Mount Vernon Nazarene will now be played on Monday and Tuesday, April 26 and 27. The start times remain the same. Goshen's home doubleheader with Rochester University, scheduled for Tuesday, has been canceled.
