(Game 1 Stats) (Game 2 Stats) Goshen, IN — With a recent winter storm postponing or canceling all of Goshen’s contests for a full week, Leafs’ skipper Josh Keister looked to the skies Tuesday afternoon and saw snow flurries floating down to the Goshen College Baseball Complex turf.
It would be an ominous sign.
After having three game dates deferred due to horrid weather, Goshen finally suited up Tuesday afternoon against Mid-Central Conference rival Indiana Wesleyan University, dropping 1-16 and 0-3 losses in — perhaps — equally frustrating manner. Sophomore starting pitcher Aaron Keister lasted just two outs in the first contest, injuring his pitching arm in what could be a major blow to the Leafs’ long-term prospects. In the second game, it was a variety of close calls — all of which that went the Wildcats’ way — that left the senior Keister looking to the skies in disdain.
It might have been an extended glance, had it not been for the snow.
“We all got a little complacent when the weather got really warm a few weeks ago,” Josh Keister said Tuesday night. “Obviously, this type of weather is not what you’d like, especially considering it’s mid-April. But it is what it is, and we have to make the most of the situation.”
The cold weather — temperatures did not get above 45 degrees Tuesday afternoon — may have played a part in Aaron Keister’s demise, as the usually-sturdy southpaw retired two Wesleyan batters (while giving up a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch) before surrendering an RBI double and signaling for his older brother to visit the mound. Rubbing his lower arm, the elder Keister received the bad news.
“Aaron said he felt a pop in his arm,” Josh Keister said. “That was certainly not the way any of us wanted to start the day. Losing a pitcher and having to go to the bullpen for a full game is a difficult way to start a 10-game week.”
Initial diagnosis of Keister’s injury was a torn muscle in the forearm, an injury that Goshen head athletic trainer Linda Kaminskis said would take approximately seven to 10 days to heal enough to begin rehab.
With Aaron Keister (0-8) on the shelf, Josh Keister went to his relievers out of attrition, a move that Indiana Wesleyan took full advantage of. Freshman Shane Kurtz, sophomore Brad Elam and freshman Caleb Kitchell all took turns on the mound, giving up a total 14 runs on 14 hits, all of which were earned. Only Elam kept IWU scoreless — he went two full innings — forcing four fly outs and two ground outs.
Goshen attempted to keep things close early, as Aaron Keister’s injury may have inspired the team initially. Trailing 2-0 after the top of the first, junior Ian Swartz singled and senior Nate Colclasure doubled to set up a sacrifice ground out from by freshman Kraig Miller, his 14th RBI of the year.
Goshen would only record two hits the remainder of the way, however, and while Wesleyan continued pouring on the runs — the Wildcats had nine scores through four innings — a push for a comeback fell further from reality.
Colclasure was the only Leaf with a two-hit performance at the plate, going 2-3 with a first-inning double. Ian Swartz finished 1-3 with a run scored, while freshman Sean Sears added Goshen’s only other hit, a single coming in the fourth inning.
With the day’s second contest finally allowing Keister a sense of regaining pace with his pitching rotation, Goshen received a brilliant performance from senior Dann Hunt (2-4). Going the distance, Hunt allowed just three Wesleyan hits, striking out seven batters while walking just four.
The Leafs’ inability to push runners across the plate, coupled with a pair of close calls, kept a possible split at bay, however.
Wesleyan scored all three runs in the top of the seventh inning, getting the go-ahead run on an extremely close squeeze play at the plate. In the bottom of the sixth inning, it was the Leafs that came up on the wrong end of a play at the plate again, as freshman Matt Fyfe was thrown out after a single from classmate Aaron Coy.
“Wesleyan scored the go-ahead run on a squeeze play that we almost had the runner thrown out on,” Keister said. “We had a runner thrown out at the plate in the inning before. If you reverse those two plays, we have a victory.
“I can’t say enough about the way Dann Hunt pitched, though,” he continued. “He had an absolutely great performance and kept IWU scoreless through the first six innings.”
The Leafs did out-hit Wesleyan in the second game — the margin was five to three — but again a lack of a well-timed knock kept Goshen scoreless for the xth time of the season. Coy finished with a 2-3 performance at the plate, while junior Mike Malott blasted a double to go 1-2. Sears and freshman Derek Swartz each finished 1-3.
Goshen gets virtually no rest, as the team will travel to Huntington University on Wednesday for yet another MCC double-header. Game time for the initial game is set for 4 p.m. The Leafs will then play pairs on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday to complete a vicious, 10-game in seven-day stretch.
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Sophomore Aaron Keister