Kylee Welch, senior, pitches against Bethel College.Photo by Maria Bischoff The Goshen College softball team hosted Bethel College on Tuesday, splitting a pair of games with the Pilots. Game one saw Goshen dominate the Pilots for an 8-2 victory before Bethel’s offense kicked in for an 11-7 win in game two.
Goshen opened the day’s scoring in game one with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Goshen kept up a consistent offense, scoring a run in each of the next five innings to take the game 8-2. Sydney Stein, sophomore, hit a solo home run on a full count in the fourth, one of 12 hits for the Maple Leafs in the game. Stein, Krista Sutliff, junior, and Rae Ann Miller, first year, all had 2 RBIs (runs batted in) each, with Sam Langley, senior, adding one RBI.
Miller pitched a complete game for Goshen, giving up two runs (0 earned) on three hits, walking four and striking out two.
Game two saw a big shift in momentum, as the Pilots came out with one of their best offensive games of the season. Bethel started the scoring in the top of the first with a run, to which Goshen responded with two two-out runs to take a 2-1 lead. Brooke Maes, sophomore, and Stein both scored for Goshen.
In the top of the second Bethel struck again, tying the game up 2-2. Goshen responded once again, putting up two more runs in the bottom of the second to take a 4-2 lead. This time Miranda Robles, junior, and Taylor Sutliff, first-year, scored.
The third and fourth innings were much of the same for the Pilots, as they added a run in each to knock up the score at 4-4 heading into the fifth. This is when the Bethel bats caught fire, as the Pilots plated six runs to take a commanding 10-4 lead.
Goshen was able to get two back when Maes and Emily Namisnak, first-year, scored, but that 10-6 deficit was the closest Goshen would get. Each team would tack on one more run, and the Pilots would pick up the win 11-7 to split the doubleheader. Kylee Welch, senior, picked up the loss, allowing eight runs (eight earned) on 10 hits through four innings.
The Maple Leafs now have a 5-26 record on the season, and rest at 3-13 in the Crossroads League. The team traveled to Huntington yesterday, with the scores not in before print deadline. Goshen returns to the diamond on Friday when they travel to Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Ohio for a doubleheader against the Cougars, first pitch set for 3 p.m.
