Cougar Baseball Responds to Adversity, Gets Past Goshen
UPLAND, Ind. – It was a new day and a new opponent in the Crossroads League Baseball Tournament for Mount Vernon Nazarene University Baseball (24-25), and the Cougars came through in a number of key moments to prevail 9-3 over Goshen College (22-29).
Though MVNU's opening round game against the No. 2 seed Taylor did not go as planned, the No. 7 seeded Cougars thrived and advanced on Saturday, May 5 in a total team effort against the Maple Leafs.
MVNU was the home team on the neutral field, and struck first by scoring a run in both the first and the second inning.
Ashton Myers had the opening RBI in the first to score Chris Kline on a liner to third base, which popped in and out of the glove of the leaping third baseman for a hit, as he may have slightly mistimed the jump in hopes of making an incredible play.
Nick Moser proceeded to have a two-out RBI single in the Cougars' next at-bats to make the score 2-0. Starting pitcher Jake Glover got off to a good start on the hill, and held Goshen scoreless through three while allowing just one hit and striking out three.
Payton Booth then relieved Glover for the fourth, as MVNU elected to use the bullpen early. Goshen tacked on a run in the top of the fourth with a slow dribbler to third base to cut its deficit in half, but Drew Ritchey gunned out a base runner at second base and Booth tossed a strikeout to end the inning and keep the Cougars in front.
In the bottom half of the fifth inning senior Jesse Staudt's solo home run to left field (his 13th on the season) increased the MVNU advantage to two once again, and Booth settled in nicely to pitch a scoreless sixth inning.
The seventh inning became a wild one that significantly swayed the final outcome of the game. Jacob Roe entered to pitch for MVNU, and found himself in a bit of trouble, with one base runner reaching on an error. Myers in right field also made an outstanding catch on the dead sprint over the shoulder, keeping at least one run off the board. Goshen however was able to load the bases with one out, and made it 3-2 with a single that kept the bases loaded.
Freshman Adam Goodpaster then entered, and opened his outing with a strikeout of Goshen's third hitter Clinton Stroble III. In the next at-bat the righty found himself in a battle with Ryan Hartig, who fought off a few pitches and worked a walk to bring in the tying run. In the next at-bat however Goodpaster was able to get Colby Malson to ground out to the shortstop and keep the Maple Leafs from taking a lead.
In the bottom of the frame MVNU had about as firm a response as possible, scoring five runs to make the score 8-3. The first three batters of the batting order reached base safely, bringing up the cleanup hitter Devin Pearl. Pearl did his job of cleaning up with a single to right field, making it 5-3. The next batter was Myers, and the junior broke the game open even more at 8-3 with a three-run jack to left field that was a no-doubter off the bat.
The inning wasn't over, as Jack Griffith added a cherry on top with a single to left field to push the score to 9-3.
Goodpaster shut down the eighth inning, and Gustavo Fuentes retired the final three batters in the top of the ninth inning to seal the deal, advancing the Cougars to Monday's play. Godpaster earned the win to improve to 3-2 on the year. Offensively, Myers led the way with four RBI on 3-of-5 from the plate, Staudt was 3-of-4 with two runs scored and a walk, and Pearl and Moser each had two hits.
Head Coach Keith Veale's thoughts on the quality win are included below, along with the Crossroads League Championships Central page and the links to game coverage.
With the victory, MVNU (24-25) advances to play on Monday, May 7 at 10 a.m. against the No. 3 seed Huntington (19-23), who was defeated in 12 innings by the No. 2 seed Taylor by a score of 4-2.
The Cougars and the Foresters played three times previously this season, with Huntington prevailing in all three by scores of 8-4, 7-4, and 8-4 in ten innings.
Crossroads League Championships Central | Head Coach Keith Veale Postgame Interview