(Game 1 Stats) (Game 2 Stats) Winona Lake, IN — Riding a 12-game losing skid and in the midst of a 16-game-in-13-day schedule, the Goshen College baseball program was in need of a very big performance.
Thursday afternoon at Mid-Central Conference rival Grace College, it got two.
Goshen (5-19, 2-4) utilized a pair of brilliant pitching efforts and well-timed offense to sweep the host Lancers, taking a pair of league games by 8-0 and 9-2 scores. Desperately needing a win, the Leafs received an added bonus on Thursday: Both wins came via the arms of freshmen on the mound, a promising pang according to second-year head coach Josh Keister.
“These are big wins for us and I believe they are a sign of things to come as we enter the second half of our season,” Keister said. “We were in need of a day like this for a lot of reasons. Sometimes games like this can really help young guys visualize future success.”
Keister called upon two first-year players to hit the pitching mound, and he wasn’t disappointed. Freshman Aaaron Coy (2-2) recorded the Game 1 win while classmate Kraig Miller (2-1) went the distance in the second game victory, putting together the Leafs’ first winning streak of the season. Coy shut out Grace in allowing just four hits in six innings of work in the first of two, while Miller gave up just one earned run and eight hits in the Leafs’ 9-2 second-game win.
“We got two great pitching performances from our freshmen today,” Keister said. “Aaron Coy and Kraig Miller both threw strikes and got ahead of hitters which enabled them to be very successful on the day. It was very encouraging to witness.”
Perhaps equally as promising was Goshen’s generation of 17 total runs on the afternoon, despite just one extra-base hit. The Leafs utilized 21 singles and a double to help push across its total 17 scores, as well as taking advantage of four Grace errors and 10 walks.
“Offensively we didn’t have a lot of extra-base hits but we did a good job of putting together quality at-bats to get the results we needed,” Keister said.
Leading the way was senior Nate Colclasure, who finished with four total RBI on the day off of a 2-6 performance at the plate. That effort included the Leafs’ lone double. Coy helped his own cause with a 3-4, two RBI performance in Game 1, while Kraig Miller went 1-3 with a pair of RBI during his pitching performance. Freshman Zach Miller added two RBI as well in the day’s second contest, going 2-4 with a run scored.
Goshen will look to keep the momentum in tact when it hosts Grace on Saturday. Game time for the first of the double-header is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Goshen College Baseball Complex.
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Freshman Kraig Miller