BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - Opening Day for the Maple Leafs baseball team took place Saturday at Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky. With the temperature in the mid-40s, the Maple Leafs lost both seven-inning games of the doubleheader, 9-4 and 14-1.

Nate Lange opened the 2023 season with a leadoff single to left field before three strikeouts made up Goshen's three outs for the inning. Union got on the board in the bottom of the second, as Hazel Martinez scored an unearned run from an error. The Leafs found their offense in the third in the form of a Peyton Smith single to left that scored first-year Justin Dambruck. Later in the inning, Jenner Rodammer scored when Joseph Cerda reached base on a fielder's choice, and the Bulldogs got the runner out at second. Cerda scored on a double to right field from Clark State College transfer Ryan Maloney. 

The turning point in game one came in the bottom of the third when Angel Mendoza hit a three-run homer to right center to give Union a 4-3 lead. They scored once more in the inning, followed by two runs in the third, one in the fifth, and another in the sixth. Goshen's fourth run of the game came in the fifth on an RBI single from Morgan Baker that scored Nate Lange.

Eric Pettipiece threw 3.1 innings for the Leafs, striking out six and walking one while allowing five earned runs and five hits. First-year Austin Martin pitched the remaining 2.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits. Rodammer and Smith had two singles each - accounting for half of the team's eight hits.

Union started the second game with a bang, scoring five runs in the first inning only to add another five in the second. The first two runs came from a triple off the bat of David Mitchell, and Jackson Holcombe had a two-run single that made it 5-0. Down 12-0, the Maple Leafs' offense got going in the sixth inning. Jenner Rodammer started it with a double to left center, scoring on a single from Joseph Cerda to left field. Morgan Baker walked, and Missouri Baptist transfer Andres Garcia singled, but the Maple Leafs couldn't muster any more runs in the inning. Nick Seelman hit a two-run double in the bottom half of the inning to go up by the final score of 14-1.

Garcia went 2-3 for GC with a couple of singles. Benjamin Witterstaetter and Giacomo Padilla allowed five runs each. Jarrett Willoughby lasted the longest on the mound for Goshen, allowing one earned run in 2.2 innings. Goshen pitchers had five strikeouts and nine walks, while Union struck out eight and walked four.

This was the first time the schools had faced off since 2009. The Bulldogs won those games 4-1 and 12-7. The teams square off again tomorrow, February 5, at noon for another doubleheader.