GOSHEN, Ind. — Rianna Koteles laced an RBI single in her return to the starting lineup, but a pair of 1-0 leads were not enough for the Goshen College softball team Friday afternoon as the Maple Leafs lost 2-1 and 10-2 to Mount Vernon Nazarene University at the John Ingold Athletic Complex.
The Cougars, who entered the day in third place in the Crossroads League, came back to score two runs in the top of the sixth inning of game one, then broke open a 1-1 tie with six runs in the third inning of game two on the way to winning by mercy rule.
The teams combined to leave 21 runners on base in the opener with a solitary 1-2-3 inning, making it all the more unusual that neither team scored in the first four-and-a-half innings. Goshen (14-25, 4-19) broke through after a leadoff double from Jolie Groeneveld in the bottom of the fifth: Edith Vega bunted her to third and Koteles singled to score the run. After an out and a walk, which moved the insurance run into scoring position, Stacey Landry flied out in the right-center field gap to end the inning.
MVNU (14-6, 12-6) plated its runs three batters later following a leadoff single in the top of the sixth. A sacrifice bunt left runners on second and third after a throwing error and two more singles tied the score and put the Cougars in front.
Goshen went down in order in the bottom of the sixth and Koteles' two-out single was the only offense in the seventh as each pitcher finished a complete game. MVNU's Sheridan Sullivan struck out 11 batters around 5 hits and 4 walks while Goshen's Mia Pawelski finished with a single earned run on 12 hits, 4 walks and 2 strikeouts.
Kaycee Ollis led all players with 3 hits for MVNU and Maddison Ruhl, Mackenzie Hancock and Megan Pentz each had 2. Koteles' 2 singles led GC.
After a game in which both starters went the distance and Groeneveld's double was the only extra-base hit, it seems reasonable that the second game would swing back in favor of the offenses to the tune of 12 runs, 19 hits, a homer and 5 pitchers used.
GC took the lead in the bottom of the first after a leadoff walk to Vega and a Bernadette Quintero sacrifice fly, but the Maple Leafs managed only that run and left two runners on base. MVNU answered in the second when Callie Cline's double tied the score.
The Cougars broke the tie with another double, this one from Macee Marcum with one out in the third, and doubled their lead on a throwing error seconds later. Several walks and hits later, it was 7-1 in favor of the visitors. Goshen got a run back with three singles in the bottom of the inning, but Cline and Samantha Collier each singled in runs in the fourth to put the Cougars up 9-2.
Courtney Knepper's homer leading off the sixth made it 10-2 and triggered the run rule when GC did not score in the bottom of the inning.
Goshen's six hits came from six players with Cassandra Espinoza poking a double. Cline, Knepper and Marcum each had two hits with one going for extra bases on the visitors' side.
Marcum took the win after 5 innings of 6-hit ball with 3 strikeouts and 90 pitches. Ellie Van Heerde worked the final 3 2/3 innings for Goshen.
The Maple Leafs will be idle for the next week following the postponement of their scheduled Saturday games with Grace College due to COVID-19 protocols at Grace; this leads into a scheduled open date next Tuesday due to final exams. GC returns to action with a four-game road trip next weekend, which begins with a visit to Taylor University at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 23.
