(Game 1 Stats) (Game 2 Stats) Goshen, IN — The Goshen College softball team registered a key Mid-Central Conference split against the University of St. Francis Saturday afternoon, guaranteeing the Leafs a spot in the MCC Tournament beginning Wednesday, May 2.
With sunshine and temperatures in the upper 70’s creating a gorgeous environment at the Goshen College Softball Complex, Goshen (6-19, 3-11) used strong pitching and a powerful fourth inning to take out the Cougars by a 3-0 score in Saturday’s first game, though St. Francis responded with a 5-1 win in Game 2.
The split qualified Goshen for — at minimum — the final position in the upcoming, eight-team MCC Tournament, however, as the Leafs now are guaranteed no worse than a tie with Grace College (1-13) with just two league contests remaining for all teams. Even if Goshen and Grace finished the regular-season with identical MCC records, the Leafs possess the tie-breaker due to head-to-head run differential (Goshen is +3 against Grace, click here for related article).
“Notching another conference win felt great today,” said Linda Bontrager, Goshen head coach. “Though we already know we’ve earned a spot in the conference tournament in May, beating a conference foe that will also be at the tournament shows we can be competitive there. Now we just need to figure out how to win two games instead of one.”
Sophomore Haly Williamson (3-4) was a major factor in the Leafs’ Game 1 win, pitching a full seven, shut-out innings while allowing just five hits. That performance allowed Bontrager’s squad to remain confident even while St. Francis’ pitcher Cassie Steinbrunner was busy holding Goshen to just three hits and a scoreless effort through three innings of play.
That all changed in the fourth, however, when the Leafs broke through for all three of their runs in an explosive stanza. Sophomore Amy Clem opened the bottom half with a single to leftfield, while a wild pitch from Steinbrunner moved Clem to second base. Walks to freshman Heather FitzSimmons and Williamson loaded the bases for freshman Jessica Carney, who’s infield hit forced Clem out at home but kept the bases juiced with two outs. FitzSimmons then scored on a wild throw from the Cougars’ catcher, and a big single to leftfield from senior Faith Borrell drove in two more runs.
From that point, the game was entirely Williamson’s, as the right hander allowed just two St. Francis hits and two base runners the rest of the way. Borrell finished 1-3 on the afternoon with the key, fourth-inning single, while Clem finished 1-3 as well. Williamson helped her own cause by scoring a run and going 1-2 from the plate — she belted a double to deep, right-centerfield in the sixth, the only extra-base hit of the game.
“Haly pitched a great first game,” Bontrager said. “She kept the St. Francis batters from getting comfortable up there, and that’s as important as any aspect in pitching.”
Another pitching duel followed the first contest — the teams combined for a total 11 hits — but Goshen could not make the same use of its five hits as it did with just three in the first contest. Junior Tera Brackman (0-5) was saddled with the pitching defeat, going four innings while allowing just two hits and two runs. St. Francis scored just one run in the second and just one in the fourth to squeak ahead, but Goshen remained blanked until a one-run fifth inning, the team’s only offense of the second game.
That score came via a single from freshman Jessica Carney and some subsequent teamwork, as Borrell bunted to move Carney to second. Carney then advanced to third following a USF error that allowed freshman Maureen Gill to reach safely, and eventually scored on a groundout by classmate Kathryn Schlabach.
Goshen’s best chance to add additional runs came in the sixth inning, where Clem again led things off with a single. The Leafs put runners on first and second with two outs, but Carney could not come up with yet another clutch hit, ending the stanza on a strikeout.
Bontrager’s squad registered five singles on the game, all coming from different players. Schlabach, Clem, Carney, Borrell and Brackman all reached base via a hit. Schlabach was credited with the squad’s lone RBI after pushing across Carney in the fifth.
“We got really close in the second game, unfortunately a few calls didn’t go our way,” Bontrager said. “Our hitting is slowly coming around. Several different players stepped up offensively today, not just one or two players. I’m pleased with the attitude my team brought to the field today. They were ready to go. We need that mentality every time we take the field from here on out.”
Goshen has just two regular-season MCC games remaining — a home double-header with Taylor this Thursday — before prepping for the MCC Tournament. The mathematical possibilities are still numerous for the Leafs, however, as the team could finish anywhere from eighth place to as high as sixth place.
UPDATE, 4/28/07: After severe weather postponed Thursday’s original game date with Taylor University, a make-up date for Saturday was set. That change brought forth a conflict with Goshen College’s 2007 commencement ceremonies, pushing the game location to Taylor.
After an administrative error, however, those changes turned out to be moot.
Goshen traveled to Taylor Saturday afternoon, hoping to play its final MCC regular-season double-header of the season. Instead, an administrative error with official scheduling postponed those contests to Monday. With Goshen’s graduation ceremonies completed, the games are now scheduled — again — to take place at the Goshen College Softball Complex.
Barring any further unforeseen circumstances, Goshen will now host Taylor on Monday, with the first of two contests slated to begin at 3 p.m.
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Senior Faith Borrell