MARION, Ind. - A three-run fourth inning briefly brought Goshen back into striking distance Friday afternoon, but a hot Indiana Wesleyan lineup proved too much as the Maple Leafs dropped a 14-4 decision in game one. A dominant outing from Dylan Pearson was not enough for Goshen in game two, as the Maple Leafs fell 1-0 in a seven-inning pitchers' duel.

Game One
Goshen fell behind 6-0 after two innings as Indiana Wesleyan struck for two runs in the first and four more in the second. Trailing by six, Goshen mounted its best push in the top of the fourth. After the Maple Leafs put traffic on the bases, Pinedo ripped a two-run double down the right-field line to plate two and trim the Indiana Wesleyan lead to 6-3. Goshen added another run in the sixth when Joel Berkholz drove a single through the right side to bring home an unearned run and make it 10-4 before the Wildcats' three-run seventh invoked the run rule.

Offensively, Goshen finished with four runs on six hits and did not commit an error. Pinedo's two-run double accounted for half of the Maple Leafs' RBIs, while Berkholz's sixth-inning single provided the final tally. Goshen also drew a pair of walks and put runners in motion but was cut down on its lone stolen-base attempt, limiting the ability to extend innings against Indiana Wesleyan starter Cam Lafuze.

On the mound, starter AJ Lenn and the Goshen bullpen were forced to navigate a Wildcats lineup that totaled 20 hits, including six doubles, two triples and two home runs. Lafuze earned the win for the hosts, working six innings and allowing four runs, three of them earned.

Game Two
The second game's lone run came in the bottom of the first inning on a bases-loaded walk, and Indiana Wesleyan starter Noah Wathen made it stand with a complete-game shutout.

Pearson and Wathen traded strikeouts all evening in warm, breezy conditions as both lineups struggled to generate sustained offense. Pearson worked 6.0 innings for Goshen, allowing just one hit and one earned run while striking out ten and walking four on 94 pitches. The right-hander kept the Maple Leafs within a run throughout, retiring hitters with a mix of power and command that limited the Wildcats to a single hit and five runners left on base.

Indiana Wesleyan broke through in the bottom of the first inning in what proved to be the decisive sequence. Pearson settled in from there, preventing further damage and holding IWU scoreless the rest of the way, but the early walk was enough to decide the contest.

Offensively, Goshen put four hits on the board against Wathen but could not come up with the timely swing to break through. The Maple Leafs' best chance came in the top of the seventh inning, when Fernando Marte Santana doubled to right field for the team's only extra-base hit of the day. Marte Santana finished 2-3 to account for half of Goshen's hits, but Wathen recorded key strikeouts to strand runners and close out the threat. Goshen hitters finished with 16 strikeouts and no walks across 25 at-bats.

The teams face off again in Marion on Saturday at 1:00 pm.