Spring sports at Goshen College are mere weeks away from wrapping up their regular seasons with some already being finalized in the books. Here is an updated look at the current standings as several teams try to punch their tickets to the postseason.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL 4-22 (1-15)
Men’s volleyball wrapped up their season this past Saturday falling to No. 4 Lawrence Tech in a closely contested three set sweep extending a now four season drought of making the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament. It was a tough year overall for the Leafs as injuries plagued an already young roster. Junior Ishmail Bangura and sophomore Bruno Barac, who combined for over 400 kills during the 2024 season, both missed significant stints of the schedule this year and combined for just 270 total kills.
Ben Koop, a sophomore from Kitchener, Ontario, was a bright spot on the roster this season for Goshen. Koop led the team in kills with 311, more than double that of the second highest 143 kills made by Sawyer Frystack.
Despite the disappointing season, the young roster leaves a solid foundation for the program to continue to grow from in the offseason as some transition begins in the coming weeks.
BASEBALL 6-29 (5-22)
As the record shows, Goshen baseball is not having what sports fans would call a stellar season. What the record does not show is the flashes of high-end baseball that the Maple Leafs have brought to the diamond.
Most recently, the Purple and White are coming off a 3-1 series loss to the No. 10 Taylor Trojans in Crossroads League play. The Leafs opened the series on Friday with an 11-0 loss, but bounced back with a monstrous 5-1 victory in game two of the double-header. Toeing the rubber for Goshen was fifth-year senior Eric Pettipiece who has been a dominant force on the mound this season. He pitched a complete seven innings in just 95 pitches, allowing zero earned runs, and just three hits to a Taylor team who holds three of the top five spots in the conference for both batting average and runs batted in.
Pettipiece, who is 4-4 on the season, has thrown six innings or more in his last three starts combining for 19.1 total innings. Over that span, he has just a 0.48 earned run average.
The race to the postseason is still a reality for the baseball team. Currently they sit at the bottom of the conference; however, there is just a two game separation between them and the eighth place Grace Lancers who hold a 7-20 conference record. Goshen and Grace will play a single 7-inning game on Monday, April 14 at 3:00 p.m. that was rescheduled from the original series due to weather.
Goshen has one more home series against Mount Vernon Nazarene University on April 16 and 17 and will finish out the regular season on the road against the University of Saint Francis on April 25 and 26.
SOFTBALL 15-17 (11-11)
Maple Leaf softball has been on a massive run since the beginning of April, winning seven-straight and eight of its last 11 including victories over then-No. 11 ranked Marian 11-10, and a doubleheader sweep of Saint Francis this past weekend 3-2 and 6-1.s
Even after breaking the all-time doubles and triples records, seniors Shea VanScoter and Alyssa McDonald both have continued to dominate the season in a lineup that boasts six players batting .300 or higher. McDonald is currently batting .438 on the season, good enough for eighth overall in the conference.
VanScoter has been massive for the Leafs in both the batter’s box and the pitching circle. In the Saint Francis doubleheader, she launched her sixth homer of the season (a team high), and tallied her fifth save – all five of the team’s saves belong to her. The home run boosted her career total to 24, now second all-time in program history previously held by 2024 graduate Alisyn Catenacci with ...
