SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The recent power surge continued for the Spring Arbor University baseball team on Tuesday as the Cougars combined to hit four home runs during their doubleheader with Goshen College, bringing their total to 11 big flies over their last nine games.
Conner Lengerich and Chris Triplett homered to lead SAU to an 11-5 victory in game one while Lengerich and Evan Lorey both went yard in a 7-5 setback in game two.
Triplett’s bomb was his 10th of the year, becoming the first Cougar to reach double digit homers in a single season since 2009 when Eric Vojkofsky hit 12.
THE BASICS
SCORES:Â Spring Arbor 11, Goshen 5
Spring Arbor 5, Goshen 7
LOCATION:Â Hank Burbridge Field | Spring Arbor, Mich.
RECORDS:Â Spring Arbor 20-23 (11-10 CL), Goshen 14-25 (8-13 CL)
GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS
- It was a back and forth first two innings. Goshen scored once in the top of the first, but Spring Arbor had an answer in the home half of the inning when Lengerich smashed a two-run home run over the center field fence. The Maple Leafs regained the lead in the second with a pair of runs, but SAU would respond immediately, once again, with two of their own to grab a 4-3 advantage.
- Triplett gave the Cougars a four-run cushion with a three-run blast in the bottom of the fourth inning.
- Goshen closed the gap to two, 7-5, after five innings, but Spring Arbor broke things open with a four-run sixth, including an RBI single by Gavin Harris in the first at-bat of his career.
- Triplett finished the game going 3-for-3 at the plate with three runs scored and four RBI’s. Lengerich also drove in four while collecting two hits. Brant Mast was 2-for-2 with three runs scored.
- Aaron Spry picked up the win on the mound while Harris earned the save, pitching two scoreless innings of relief with a pair of strikeouts.
GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS
- A Lengerich solo home run in the third inning helped give Spring Arbor an early 2-0 lead.
- Goshen tallied five unanswered runs over the next three innings to take a 5-2 advantage after six innings.
- The momentum shifted in the seventh inning. With two on and only one out, Lorey hammered new pitcher Colton Daniel’s first offering over the right field fence to even the score.
- The Maple Leafs came right back, however, with a two-run home run of their own in the top of the eighth and would hold on to avoid the series sweep.
- Lorey went 2-for-5 with three RBI’s and a run scored while Josiah Kitchen went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
- Zach Kraabel allowed just two runs over five innings of work on the mound. Lorey was hit with the loss after giving up one run in one inning of relief.
UP NEXT
Spring Arbor opens a three-game series with Bethel College (9-25, 5-16 CL) on Friday, Apr. 19 at 3 p.m. from Hank Burbridge Field. The Cougars conclude the series with a doubleheader on Saturday, Apr. 20 starting at 1 p.m.