Grace Earns Baseball Split
GOSHEN – Blake Converset’s fifth complete game of the season helped the Grace College baseball team to a split at Goshen on Friday.
The Lancers (13-9, 1-1 Crossroads League) were two innings away from a sweep on Friday, but the Maple Leafs (9-18, 1-1 CL) rallied to win late in the second game.
Converset and the Lancers’ defense was the difference in the opener. Goshen outhit Grace 8-6 in the game, but the Lancers came away with the 1-0 victory.
Grace scored the game’s only run in the fifth inning. Jakob Radjenovich led off with a walk and reached second base on a wild pitch. A bunted single by Shay Hepler moved Radjenovich to third, and he scored on Austin Green’s single through the infield.
Goshen threatened to score in the bottom of the sixth. The Maple Leafs’ Noah Shail singled with two outs. The next at-bat produced a double to deep right field, and Shail made the turn to come home for the potential game-tying run. But freshman Xavier Harris hit the cutoff man from right field, and Green in turn was on target to catcher Matthew Warren for the tagout at the plate.
The Maple Leafs doubled again with two outs in the seventh, but Converset got the final batter to fly out.
For the game, Converset allowed 0 runs, 8 hits and 1 walk. He struck out three and only needed 92 pitches for the complete game.
Hepler was 2-for-2 from the plate with two walks, and Austin Baker hit 2-for-3.
In the second game, Grace took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning. Harris had a two-out RBI single to plate Frank Rocchio in the fourth, but the Lancers were unable to score more after loading the bases.
In the fifth inning, Radjenovich led off with a double. He scored off Green’s single two batters later.
Goshen struck back in the bottom of the sixth. The Maple Leafs used four singles and a hit batsman to plate three runs, forcing the Lancers to use three pitchers in the inning.
Grace nearly tied the game in its final at-bats of the seventh. Hepler led off with a walk and reached third base thanks to a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch. But the Lancers’ final two batters flew out and struck out, allowing the Maple Leafs to steal a late 3-2 win.
Radjenovich hit 2-for-4 with a double and a run, and Harris was 1-for-2 with an RBI.
Scottie Clark tossed the first 5.1 innings, striking out three and allowing three runs and three hits.
The Lancers will complete the four-game series with Goshen on Saturday, welcoming the Maple Leafs to Miller Field for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.