Lancers Struggle In Road Sweeps
GOSHEN – Grace hit the road Tuesday for a pair of doubleheaders on the softball and baseball diamonds. Grace’s softball squad couldn’t get its bats going in a pair of loses at Goshen while the baseball team also had trouble getting runs across in a doubleheader sweep at Siena Heights.
GOSHEN SOFTBALL 6, GRACE 0
GOSHEN SOFTBALL 4, GRACE 2
Grace’s softball team came up short in a doubleheader on Tuesday at Crossroads League foe Goshen.
The Maple Leafs kept Grace’s offense off-balance at the plate, and the Lady Lancers lost 6-0 and 4-2.
In the opening game, Goshen managed to open the scoring early with a two-run double by Leah Herrman in the first. The Maple Leafs (10-17, 4-7 CL) also scored on a two-out error in the second inning to take an early 3-0 advantage.
In the fourth inning, a leadoff home run from Katherine Boyer pushed the lead to 4-0. Boyer was 3-3 at the plate with a double and scored three runs for the Leafs.
The Maple Leafs threatened again in the fifth inning, putting runners on second and third base with nobody out. Erin Lawhon escaped the threat from the mound, however, forcing two infield pop outs and a strikeout to end the inning.
The Lady Lancers (7-18, 3-10 CL) were unable to get their bats going in the first game, despite putting together a scoring threat in the sixth inning. With two outs, Morgan Tapscott singled and Natalie Klingberg followed with a double to put a pair of runners in scoring position. But Goshen squashed the effort by forcing a groundout back to the pitcher.
Goshen added two insurance runs in the sixth inning to extend their lead to 6-0 after Madison Mitchell and Ri Koteles each doubled in Leafs.
Klingberg led the Lady Lancers offensively in game one, going 2-3 with a double. Britney Young also went 1-2 with a pinch-hit single in the fifth inning.
The second game resulted in a pitchers’ duel. One early mistake seemed to doom the Lady Lancers.
The Maple Leafs were able to grab an early 2-0 lead on a two-run home run by Cassandra Espinoza in the second inning.
In the third frame, Klingberg teamed up with Bethany Gardner to turn a double play and erase a potential run by the Maple Leafs.
Young drove in two runs with a double off the wall in left-center field, plating Olivia Scarbrough and Michaela Lee to tie the game in the fifth inning. Young tallied her fifth multi-RBI game of the season and adds to her team leading RBI total, finishing the day with 21 on the season.
Goshen reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fifth; the Maple Leafs tacked on a pair of runs with a Emily Cummings double and a wild pitch.
Down to their final out, the Lady Lancers continued to battle. Scarbrough hit a 2-out single down the left field line, but it was not enough as Grace dropped the second game 4-2.
Heim tossed her fifth complete game of the season in the loss. She struck out five batters and allowed five hits from the mound.
Scarbrough had a hit and a run scored, and Young was had a pair of RBIs.
The Lady Lancers will be back in action tomorrow as they head to Marion to take on No. 11 Indiana Wesleyan.
SIENA HEIGHTS BASEBALL 8, GRACE 4
SIENA HEIGHTS BASEBALL 2, GRACE 0
Grace’s basebalI team was unable to pick up a win on the road Tuesday, falling to Siena Heights 8-2 and 4-0.
In the opener, the Saints jumped out early and never looked back. Grace had baserunners in each of the first two innings but came up empty.
Siena Heights made Grace pay with a big second inning. The Saints plated six runs, including four runs with two outs in the inning.
Grace got on the scoreboard in the fifth with a sacrifice fly by Houston Haney, but Grace’s deficit had grown to 8-1 by that point.
The Lancers (9-14) tacked on another run in the sixth when a ground ball from Mitchell Enyart brought in Hunter Ackerman, but that proved to be the final 8-2 scoreline.
Ackerman batted 2-of-3 with a run, and Xavier Harris and Chris Griffin were each 1-for-2.
The second game was a pitchers’ duel. The teams only combined to record five hits, and all four runs in the game were scored in one inning.
The contest was scoreless through three innings. The Lancers’ fielding issues helped spark the Saints to life, however, in the fourth.
Grace committed two errors in the fourth, allowing the Saints (8-12) to score four runs with two hits. Those four runs in the fourth proved to be the only runs of the ballgame.
The Lancers’ best chance to score came in the seventh when Griffin walked and Bret Wilhelmi singled. But Grace’s next two batters flew out to erase a potential rally.
Joey Peebles tossed the first four innings for Grace, allowing two earned runs and three hits. Ike Peterson and Josh Tew were scoreless over the final two innings.
Wilhelmi and David Anderson each recorded a hit, marking the only two hits for Grace in the game.
The Lancers continue play over the weekend with a series at St. Francis. The teams will play a single game on Friday at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.