(Game 1 Stats) (Game 2 Stats) Goshen, IN — Playing in its first Mid-Central Conference competitions and first home contests of the 2007 spring season Thursday, the Goshen College baseball team could be likened to the threat of rain showers on the afternoon:
After an early downpour, the rain remained close.
But never would come completely through.
Like the inclement weather, Goshen (3-15, 0-2) stayed ominously close to visiting Spring Arbor University, only to fall by the narrowest of margins. The Leafs dropped a 1-4, eight-inning affair to start the afternoon, while a late offensive burst helped the Cougars to a 5-2 win in the second game.
After having to push the start of the day’s first game back by 30 minutes — the Goshen College Baseball Complex withstood heavy rains all the way up until the originally scheduled 1 p.m. start time — the skies eventually cleared to reveal a brilliant day for baseball. The results, however, were less than perfect for Leafs’ head coach Josh Keister, who witnessed his team drop its seventh and eighth consecutive games.
“We played good baseball today,” Keister said. “We’re beginning to hit the ball better, but are just struggling to push runs across. I was very pleased with our effort today. We are playing much better baseball now than we were at the beginning of the year.”
The Leafs began the day’s activities facing the 2006 MCC Player of the Year — Spring Arbor’s Jesse Bachman — on the mound. Needing a stellar performance in its own right, Goshen received one from sophomore Aaron Keister (0-5). Keister went a full eight innings on the hill for the Leafs, striking out nine Cougars’ batters and walking just two.
With Bachman keeping the Goshen offense in check, it became a classic pitching duel. Goshen gave up a single run in the top of the third inning after a costly two-out error helped Spring Arbor push a run across. Unnerved, Aaron Keister regained his composure to allow just two base runners over the next four innings.
Goshen, meanwhile, was able to secure the tying run in the bottom of the sixth inning, when junior Mike Malott got things going with a lead-off single and subsequent stolen base. Senior Nate Colclasure then drove Malott home with an RBI single, and it appeared the momentum had shifted back to Goshen’s side.
Going to extra innings, Spring Arbor responded with an enormous eighth-inning, benefiting from a three-run homer to wipe out the 1-1 tie. After a lead-off single from junior Ian Swartz in the bottom of the eighth, Colclasure grounded into a double play. A ground out from freshman Kraig Miller concluded the contest.
Miller finished with a 2-4 effort at the plate in Game 1, while Colclasure went 1-4 with the team’s only RBI. Malott was 1-4 with a run scored, while Swartz finished 1-3. Freshman Sean Sears and sophomore Kyle Koch both tallied 1-3 performances as well.
“We batted well against the reigning conference player of the year in Jesse Bachman,” Josh Keister said. “We put together seven hits but could only push across one run.”
With disappointment palpable in the Leafs’ dugout, Goshen regrouped quickly for the second contest. Senior Dann Hunt (1-2) began the game with an impressive performance on the mound, pitching four shutout innings in the first five stanzas. Goshen’s offense struck early, as an Ian Swartz single was driven in by a follow-up double from Colclasure. Spring Arbor tacked on a run in the top of the third inning, and again a 1-1 tie dominated most of the contest.
Keister’s squad put together an impressive fifth inning to claim a 2-1 lead, but Spring Arbor would again spoil the effort with a three-run stanza. The Cougars concluded Hunt’s afternoon in the sixth inning, tacking on three runs off of three hits to put Goshen in a 4-2 hole. Spring Arbor tacked on another run in the seventh inning for insurance, as the Leafs went down in order to conclude the game in the bottom of the inning.
Swartz was again solid at the plate, going 2-4 with a run scored. Colclasure drove in yet another run on a 1-4 performance, while Miller added an RBI on a 1-3 effort. Freshman Zach Miller was impressive as well, going 3-3 on the game. Classmate Aaron Coy provided a 1-3 effort.
“We played well in the second game and got the lead in the fifth but the big inning bit us in the sixth,” Keister said. “I fully expect us to continue to improve all year. We have a couple of hitters getting hot so we should be primed for a run in the conference.”
The squad will not have a lengthy wait for its next MCC opportunity, as the Leafs complete the season series with Spring Arbor on Monday. That double-header was rescheduled from an original Saturday date, after a soaking rain made Spring Arbor's field unplayable. Goshen will now travel to the Cougars’ field Monday for a double-header with the first of two scheduled for 1 p.m.
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Junior Ian Swartz