GOSHEN, Ind. – Dominating pitching performances highlighted a double-header split as the Goshen College baseball team took game one 2-1 before visiting Huntington University rallied late for a 3-2 victory in the nightcap.

In the opener, freshman Zach Thompson out dueled Huntington senior Mitch Bowers. The righty gave up an unearned run in the first, but struck out the side and finished with a career high eight. He went the distance (seven innings) and allowed only five hits after the first inning Forester rally.

Bowers was nearly as good, firing all six defensive innings and gave up just one earned run on eight hits. After falling behind in the top of the first, the Maple Leafs immediately had an answer. Singles by Zach Vanlandingham and Jose Andrade set up the game-tying run on a Garrett Cannizzo fielder's choice.

Goshen got its first lead four innings later. Back-to-back singles by Josh Schlabach and Arick Armington put runners on first and third with no outs. The next batter, Vanlandingham, ripped a line drive right at the third-baseman and after he tagged Schlabach out for a critical double play, it looked like Huntington might get out of the inning unscathed.

An Andrade single and a Forester error, however, plated the go-ahead run for the Leafs (2-1).

Thompson did the rest, striking out two in the seventh to get out of a two-on jam closing out his fourth career victory. Offensively, Andrade was 3-for-3 for the Leafs, while Blake Ayers and Jordan Klopfenstein each had two hits for Huntington.

Game two also saw some spectacular efforts on the mound. Redshirt freshman Matt Austin retired the first 19 Foresters he faced, taking a perfect game into the seventh inning.

Meanwhile, a two-run Goshen rally in the third inning gave them a 2-0 lead late. Schlabach started the rally with a walk before scoring the game's opening run on an Armington double to deep center field. Armington quickly scored on a Vanlandingham single for the 2-0 lead.

The Huntington rally started with one out in the seventh. After going 20 straight-plate appearances (21 going back to game one) without a hit, they strung together five hits in their next six at bats to erase a 2-0 deficit and go up 3-2. In the bottom half, Armington hit his second double (3-for-4 overall), but that is all the Leafs could muster.

Next up for Goshen (12-31, 5-23 MCC) is a four-game set with Bethel. The series starts with a Senior Day double-header at the Goshen College Baseball Complex at 1 p.m. Saturday.

HUNTINGTON, Ind. – With the series opening in Huntington Tuesday night (in the midst of final exams), the Maple Leafs dropped their sixth and seventh-straight road conference games 4-3 and 5-2.

Goshen got on the board first with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning of game one. Senior Garett Cannizzo and Corey Johnson registered RBIs in the inning, but the Forester answered quickly with a single run in the bottom half of the frame via an Eric Schultz solo home
run.

With a 2-1 lead in the fifth, Cannizzo and Johnson were again key as the Leafs added a run to their advantage. They both doubled with Johnson's
two-out strike to right field plating Cannizzo for a 3-1 cushion.

Again, Huntington wasted little time to answer. A pair of hits and a sacrifice fly scored one to trim the deficit back to a single run (3-2)  where it would stay until the bottom of the seventh. A pair of hits, two Goshen errors, and another sac fly allowed the Foresters to rally for two runs to take the ball game 4-3.

Zach Vanlandingham, Cannizzo, and Caleb Yoder each had three hits for Goshen, while Yoder also had a strong outing on the mound, giving up just six hits and two earned runs in six and a thirds innings of work.  Ethan Tribolet fired a complete game for Huntington, allowing seven hits and three earned runs, while striking out six. Schultz was 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two knocked in.

In the nightcap, Huntington jumped out in front, scoring in three of the first five innings to build a 5-0 cushion. Goshen wasn't able to get on
the board until the sixth inning when they scored twice. All three of their hits in the contest came in the inning,

That would be all the Leafs could put together, though, as they fell 5-2.   Forester starter Cody Walters retired the first 15 batters he faced and
earned the win with 5 2/3 innings pitched. Blake Ayers led the offense with a 2-for-2 game in which he also scored twice and had two RBIs.