MISHAWAKA, Ind. — The Goshen College softball team sent 13 batters to the plate in its first inning of work Tuesday night, putting a 9 on the inning-by-inning scoreboard at Gardner Field on the way to an 11-2 win in the first game of a doubleheader over Bethel University in U.S. Highway 20 Cup competition. Bethel won the second game 4-2.
Alisyn Catenacci went deep twice and drove in four runs for the Maple Leafs (14-19, 4-13 CL), who finished the first game off in six innings by virtue of the run rule. Jolie Groeneveld added a double and Regan Sheipline and Bela Aros each also had two hits.
Mia Pawelski picked up the win and moved to 8-5 on the season, twirling her eighth complete game and striking out 5 in the process while allowing 2 runs.
Bethel (11-26, 4-14) finished with 5 hits, but three of those went for extra bases in the form of two doubles and a home run. Yadi Gomez hit the solo shot in the first inning and Karis Brewer drove in the other run.
Vega started the line moving in the first inning when she reached base on an error, scoring on a double steal after Sheipline's bunt hit. Sheipline and Groeneveld proceeded to score on miscues and Catenacci's homer made it 5-0 before the first out. Sheipline reached on a two-run error the second time around and Groeneveld made it 9-0 with a two-run single by the end of the inning.
Gomez's homer came with two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the first before Brewer's RBI fielder's choice doubled the Pilots' output in the third inning. GC had a chance to invoke the run rule when they got their potential 10th run to third in the fifth inning, but the Pilots stranded the runner with a ground ball.
The Maple Leafs continue their six-game conference road trip on Saturday when they make their second-longest road trip of the CL season to play Marian University in Indianapolis. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at the aptly named MU Softball Field.
Groeneveld's double and Catenacci's second blast of the day put Goshen up 11-2 with one out in the sixth and the run rule ended the game when Pawelski retired BU in order in the bottom of the inning.
In the second game, the Maple Leafs wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Edith Vega singled to start the rally on the second pitch of the game. She moved to second two pitches later and subsequently scored on an error to give GC a 1-0 lead.
Bethel took the lead for the first time in the bottom of the first when Quinn Slattman and Mahri Younger started the inning with singles. Gomez hit a game-tying RBI groundout and Brewer singled to knock in the second run before GC starter Rayna Moraga got out of the inning.
The Pilots escaped the second inning despite issuing two walks but would give up the lead on a two-out rally in the third. Catenacci doubled and Miranda Hipolito's single left runners on the corners, setting up the tying run to score on a ground ball that led to an error.
Brewer's 2-run homer put BU back on top in the bottom of the third, which would end the scoring. Goshen strung together a hit batter and two singles in the fifth, but the lead runner was out at the plate and the team left two runners aboard. The Maple Leafs also went 0 for 3 with the tying run at the plate in the seventh.
Frady took the win in a complete-game effort, allowing two unearned runs and striking out three. Moraga lost with 4 runs on 6 hits in 6 innings. Catenacci and Hipolito had two hits for GC and Younger and Brewer did the same for BU.
The game brought both teams to the midpoint of the Crossroads League standings, or it should have: Goshen's record of 4-13 does not include a suspended game with Spring Arbor that will be completed on April 24. The other two doubleheaders that have not been played both include Mount Vernon Nazarene, which will make up its twinbill at Huntington on April 19 and at Spring Arbor on a date to be determined.
With each team picking up a quarter-point due to its win, the U.S. Highway 20 Cup score now stands at Bethel 6½, Goshen 4. The competition will resume with the Bethel-Goshen baseball series in Mishawaka on Friday, April 16.
Goshen returns to the field to start the second half of its conference schedule on Saturday, when it makes the second-longest road trip of its CL season to play Marian University in Indianapolis. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
