Over the past week, the Goshen College baseball team posted a 1-5 record and moved to 9-22 overall (3-7 in conference). The first four of these games were against Huntington, and spanned the course of two days.
On Thursday, April 1, the Maple Leafs played the first of two double headers against Huntington. In both contests, Goshen struggled to start their offense, while the Foresters had no trouble getting on the scoreboard. At the end of the day, Huntington picked up 12-1 and 12-5 contests.The second double header, which was played two days later on Saturday the third, was a much closer contest. Due to the weather, the game was delayed over 5 hours before finally getting started. Unlike the last meeting between these two teams, the Maple Leafs started off strong, taking a 4-0 lead before the opposition even had a chance to bat.
By the end of the second, Goshen’s lead had been cut down to 4-3. But the Leafs were able to bounce back, taking command of the game in the top of the third, and then the fifth. Going into the bottom of the fifth, Goshen led 8-3, but Huntington was able to rally, scoring two runs in the fifth and two more in the seventh. But it was all for not, as Goshen held on to win 8-7.
The fourth and final game of the series, and the second of the day, went into extra innings, and proved to be quite a contest. With Huntington already ahead 2-0, Goshen scored big in the fifth, tallying a total of five runs. But Goshen couldn’t hold on to the lead, and the Foresters scored two in the sixth and tied it up in the seventh. To extra innings they went.
In the ninth, the Maple Leafs took the lead through a run scoring single courtesy of first year Clay Norris. But then the Foresters rallied again, and this time it was for the win. Huntington took the game, and the series, with a 7-6 victory in extra innings.
On Tuesday, April 6, Goshen hosted Taylor University, where they faced the nationally ranked Trojans. Taylor jumped out to an early lead in both games, and did not look back. The Trojans scored eight runs in the first inning of the first game, and cruised to a 15-4 victory. It was much of the same during the second contest of the double header, as Taylor put up eight runs in the second inning and ten in the third. The game finished 18-4, in favor of the visitors.
Today, Goshen travels to Marian University, where they will play the Knights at 1:00 pm. Goshen then hosts Marian on April 10, the game kicks off a string of seven home games for the Maple Leafs.