GOSHEN, Ind. - The Maple Leafs won game three of their series with Mount Vernon Nazarene 10-9 on Thursday but the Cougars won game two 1-0. Three of the four games in the series were decided by one run and the other was only by two runs.

Game One
The game one win gave Goshen a win against their sixth different Crossroads League opponent this year. They now have wins against Spring Arbor, Bethel, Grace, Huntington, Taylor and Mount Vernon Nazarene. In this game, at least one run was scored in every half inning from the top of the fourth through the bottom of the eighth.

The first inning was scoreless, but that was the only inning where both teams had a chance to bat and didn't score. The Leafs scored in the bottom of the second with an RBI single from Chris Godden. Down 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Justin Dambruck walked with the bases loaded to tie it up. The Cougars had two runs come through in the top of the fifth and Trent Sillett homered for Goshen to pull the Leafs within one run. It was the first home run for Sillett since March 11, 2024.

Logan Wilson went 5.2 innings as Goshen's starter and allowed four earned runs and six hits. He had six strikeouts and two walks. Mount Vernon had two runs in the sixth and Justin Dambruck responded with a two-run homer to put Goshen within one again. The visitors took a 7-5 lead in the next inning until Goshen scored four in the bottom of the seventh.

The Leafs had six batters reach base before their first out in the inning. Hunter Oborn and Nick Padron walked, and then Chris Godden singled. Axell Espino Montero hit a two-RBI single to tie the game. Justin Dambruck singles and Chase Smith walked with the bases loaded to give Goshen a lead. Trent Sillett hit a sac fly next and Goshen was up 9-7.

The Cougars had a couple of RBI doubles in the eighth to tie the game yet again, but the Leafs scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth. The Cougars were held scoreless in an inning for the first time since the second inning  when they couldn't capitalize in the ninth. Giacomo got his second save of the season.

The win went to Corey Brown, who is now 1-3 this year. Justin Dambruck was 4-4 with a home run, a walk, three RBIs and a run. He was hit by a pitch once. This was the first four-hit game in Dambruck's career. Axell Espino Montero and Trent Sillett both had three hits, two runs and two RBIs. Nick Padron and Chris Godden had two hits each. Every Goshen player that had a hit in the game had a multi-hit performance. Hunter Oborn had three of Goshen's 12 walks.

Game Two
Game one lasted nearly three hours while the second seven-inning game lasted an hour and 43 minutes. Eric Pettipiece was on the mound for the Leafs, and he continued his dominant stretch of lights-out pitching. He went seven innings, allowing one earned run on just three hits. In his last four outings, he has thrown 26.1 innings and allowed 13 hits and two earned runs. Opponents are hitting .144 against him and he has an ERA of 0.68 in that span with 17 strikeouts.

The problem was that Pettipiece didn't get any run support from his team.

The Leafs struck out 11 times and had no walks and three hits. Chris Godden, Axell Espino Montero and Trent Sillett each had a single. Espino Montero and Justin Dambruck had stolen bases. Dambruck and Sillett were hit by pitches.

In Pettipiece's last eight outings, all Crossroads League games, he has thrown at least 5.2 innings in seven of those contests. Five have been quality starts - going six or more innings with three or fewer earned runs.

Goshen is at Saint Francis on Friday, April 25, at 1:00 pm.