Box Scores: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4
GOSHEN, Ind. and MISHAWKA, Ind. – With the continual improvement of technology in aluminum bats, often short fences, and young pitching staffs, college baseball is known to be hitter friendly.
You wouldn't have to convince the Leafs of that after they were swept in a four-game series against rival Bethel College, who tallied 53 hits total in the two double-headers. The Pilots batted .438 as a team as they kept Goshen winless in the brutal Mid-Central Conference.
Despite Bethel scoring a pair of runs in the top of the first in the series opener, things looked promising as sophomore Kraig Miller ripped a solo homer to right-center. Miller's fifth of the season made it a one-run game.
As has often been an achilles heal of the Leafs, they allowed the Pilots to immediately respond with a six-run third inning. Bethel tallied six runs on just three hits and Goshen walked four in the frame.
The Leafs would take advantage of a pair of walks in the bottom of the inning as they scored three times on RBIs from Zach Reed, Darren Tronovich, and Scott Szucs. However, the damage had been done and the Pilots ran away with a 15-4 win after adding four in the fifth and three more in the sixth.
Game two saw Bethel jump out with nine runs in the first four innings and hold on for a 12-5 victory. Freshman Josh Yates had his best offensive game of the season as he knocked an RBI double in the fifth before smashing a two-run homer in the seventh.
The Pilots again jumped to a quick advantage as the series shifted to Mishawaka on Saturday. Bethel used a four-run third inning to take a 5-0 lead.
Goshen was able to pull within three with a pair in the fifth on a Pilot error and a RBI single by Yates, but they tallied just five hits on the ballgame as they fell 7-2. Kraig Miller went 2-for-3 to lead Goshen.
In the series finale, the Maple Leafs took a 2-1 lead in the third inning – their first lead of the series. But once again the Bethel offense kicked it into high gear as they rallied for thirteen hits, while scoring three in the third and five in the sixth to take a 9-2 finale.
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Freshman Josh Yates