SPRING ARBOR, Mich. — The Goshen College Maple Leafs unleashed a veritable plethora of offensive weapons on Saturday, getting a home run from Alisyn Catenacci for the second consecutive day and smacking eight extra-base hits in a doubleheader sweep over the Cougars of Spring Arbor University. Goshen won 10-6 and 9-1 at the Cougar Softball Field.
The Maple Leafs (16-28, 6-22) took the lead on a Jessica Bachtell single in the top of the first inning of game one before giving it up in a six-run bottom of the first. Doubles by Rianna Koteles and Catenacci tied the score in the second inning and Catenacci's two-out homer in the fourth put GC ahead for good.
Goshen never trailed in the second game, going ahead on a passed ball with two outs in the first and scoring the first four runs before triggering the run rule with a 5-run fifth.
Koteles and Ellie Van Heerde each had three hits, including a double, in the opener, while Catenacci homered and doubled and two other players had two hits apiece. Koteles, Catenacci and Van Heerde all scored two runs and drove in a pair as well.
GC started the scoring with a two-out rally, getting a single from Koteles and a walk to Catenacci before Bachtell's single brought home the lead runner and a throwing error made it 2-0. SAU put together four hits and two walks in the bottom of the inning, scoring four times after a two-out error to go up 6-2.
Van Heerde got the Maple Leafs back on the scoreboard with a run on a throwing error after a stolen base in the second, and GC would outscore SAU 17-1 over the rest of the day. Koteles lashed a two-run double and Catenacci brought her home with another two-bagger to tie the score at 6.
Each team left runners on base but did not score in the third and Catenacci hit a 2-1 pitch out of the park with two outs in the fourth to go up 7-6. Van Heerde and Ashley Glazer also hit back-to-back doubles to start the fifth inning to double the lead. Finally, after a one-out walk to Bachtell loaded the bases in the sixth, Van Heerde's two-run single doubled the lead again to 10-6.
SAU (18-28, 12-18) led off its final two innings with singles, but otherwise failed to get the ball out of the infield. The Cougars got 3 hits from Jade Nowe and 2 from Kaitlynne Allen.
Rayna Moraga threw a 107-pitch complete game for GC, allowing 2 earned runs on 8 hits and striking out 3.
In the second game, GC loaded the bases with no outs in the first before hitting into a double play but scoring a run anyway on a passed ball. Edith Vega's one-out triple set up an RBI groundout for Glazer in the third and Mia Pawelski and Jolie Groeneveld each knocked in runs in the fourth.
Pawelski was also busy in the pitching circle, holding SAU to two hits through 3 innings before Sarah Matlock's double set up an Abbey Lafler RBI single in the fourth. That closed the score to 4-1, but a popout ended the inning before the Cougars could do more damage.
GC did its share of damage in the fifth, scoring 5 times after two of the first three batters made outs. Bachtell worked a walk to move Catenacci to second before Stacey Landry scored them both with a double. Ellie Van Heerde's single left runners on the corners and a stolen base moved both of them into scoring position, setting up a 2-run single from Pawelski and an RBI double from Groeneveld for the 9-1 lead.
Pawelski set SAU down in order in the bottom of the inning, finishing off the win. She threw 74 pitches and allowed a run on 3 hits, striking out 6. Landry and Pawelski each had two hits for GC with Pawelski driving in a game-high 3 runs as well.
While the Maple Leafs won both games, they did not have a chance to win three as some versions of the schedule suggested: after reviewing the Crossroads League procedures manual, the second game of the March 30 doubleheader between the two teams was declared complete rather than suspended. SAU won that game 18-12.
The wins moved Goshen into a tie in the Games Behind column with Bethel University for the eighth and final spot in next week's Crossroads League tournament. The Pilots remain ahead on percentage points, having played two more games than the Maple Leafs.
Goshen enters a home stretch, consisting of six games in four days and eight games in seven days, on Tuesday when it hosts Huntington University at 3 p.m. at the John Ingold Athletic Complex.
