GOSHEN, Ind. - The MVNU softball team has won six straight games after winning twice in Goshen on Good Friday. The Cougars, who are receiving votes in the NAIA coaches poll, won their games 6-5 and 8-3.
The Cougars got one run across early in the first inning, but Goshen's
Mia Pawelski was shutting down the Cougars through the next four.
At the plate,
Ri Koteles put Goshen's first runs on the board with a two-run homer in the third that scored
Shea VanScoter and gave the Maple Leafs the lead.
Edith Vega added on in the fourth with a sacrifice fly to right-center that scored
Grace Schmitt.
Pawelski was still on the mound in the sixth when a dropped ball resulted in a Goshen error, and five unearned runs scored before the inning came to an end. All of a sudden, the Cougars led 6-3.
VanScoter connected on a pitch in the bottom of the sixth - a single that scored two runs and brought Goshen to within one. The Leafs held MVNU in the top of the seventh, but the home team couldn't score either, and Mount Vernon left game one with a win.
Mia Pawelski allowed six runs in 5.2 innings, but only one of them was earned. Alyssa Hartman pitched the remaining 1.1 innings - not allowing any hits, runs, or walks while striking out two.
VanScoter had three of Goshen's eight hits. She knocked in two runs and scored one herself.
MVNU began game two with two runs in the first and another in the second with Alyssa Hartman on the mound. But
Kyra Wilson hit an RBI single to right in the bottom of the second, making the score 3-1. After Mount Vernon hit an RBI triple, the Maple Leafs had another RBI single to right in the fourth - this time from
Kaylee Kates to cut the Cougars' lead back to two.
Feeling the pressure, MVNU put up four runs in the fifth, capped off with Nevaeh Clark's two-RBI single. Down 8-2,
Grace Schmitt hit a home run to right-center in the sixth. Neither team scored in the seventh, and 8-3 was the final score.
The Cougars had 13 hits, with three each from Kylee Matern and Kaycee Ollis.
Claire Ouellette and Schmitt combined for half of Goshen's eight hits.
Mount Vernon Nazarene is 25-7 and 15-5 in the Crossroads League, and Goshen is now 16-20 and 6-16 in conference. The Leafs play at Grace on Saturday, April 16, at 1:00 pm. The next home game is Tuesday, April 19, against Taylor at 3:00 pm.