Posted: Apr 26, 2025
Cougars Clinch No. 2 Seed in CL Tournament; McRae Breaks School Record for Career Strikeouts During Senior Day Against Goshen
Goshen (IN)
(7-34, 6-27)
0
Saint Francis (Ind.)
(25-22, 21-12)
10
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Goshen (IN) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
|
Saint Francis (Ind.) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | X | 10 | 7 | 0 |
Goshen (IN)
(7-35, 6-28)
6
Saint Francis (Ind.)
(26-22, 22-12)
10
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Goshen (IN) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 3 |
|
Saint Francis (Ind.) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | X | 10 | 12 | 1 |
Goshen (IN)
(8-35, 6-29)
10
Saint Francis (Ind.)
(27-22, 23-12)
11
| Final (11) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Goshen (IN) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 11 | 3 |
|
Saint Francis (Ind.) | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 11 | 1 |
Goshen (IN)
(8-36, 6-30)
2
Saint Francis (Ind.)
(28-22, 25-12)
4
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Goshen (IN) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
|
Saint Francis (Ind.) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | X | 4 | 3 | 1 |
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The University of Saint Francis (Ind.) baseball team secured the No. 2 seed in the Crossroads League Tournament after earning four wins over Goshen College at the Cougar Baseball Field on April 25-26. Before Saturday afternoon's games, the USF baseball team held a short, on-field ceremony to honor its senior class.
In the first game of Saturday afternoon, senior pitcher Blaine McRae broke the Saint Francis school record for career strikeouts with his 198th strikeout.
SAINT FRANCIS 10, GOSHEN 0 (7 INNINGS)
- The Cougars started game one strong, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning. The scoring got underway with an RBI single from Jayden Lepper, followed by a two-run home run over the right field fence from Sam Pesa and an error by the Maple Leafs that allowed another run to score for Saint Francis to give USF the 4-0 lead.
- Kasen Oribello brought in a run to add to USF's lead. Callan Stauffer then hit an RBI single to left field, and Brenden Lytle followed up with a two-run double, making it 8-0 for the Cougars after five innings.
- With the bases loaded and one out, Ayden Lichtensteiger was hit by a pitch before Aaron Miranda scored on a passed ball to extend Saint Francis's lead to 10-0 in the sixth inning.
- The Cougars' defense kept the Maple Leafs from scoring as USF cut game one short with a 10-0 run-rule victory.
- Saint Francis had seven hits and nine walks in game one. Eli Riley and AJ Patton both went 1-2 at the plate. Riley recorded two stolen bases and two walks, while Riley had a stolen base and one walk. Pesa went 1-3 with two runs scored, two RBI, a stolen base and his fourth homer of the season. Lytle also drove in two runs and had an extra-base hit, while Xavier Nolan hit a triple and scored a run for the Cougars.
- On the mound, Lukas North struck out five batters while allowing just two hits and no runs over 5.2 innings.
- Bryce Adams closed the game with 1.1 innings of relief, striking out one batter and not giving up any hits or walks.
SAINT FRANCIS 10, GOSHEN 6 (7 INNINGS)
- After Goshen hit a two-run double in the top of the first inning to grab a 2-0 lead, Riley doubled to left field to score Nolan, cutting the Maple Leafs' lead to one in the bottom half of the inning.
- Goshen then extended their lead to 4-1 in the top of the second inning with a sacrifice fly and an RBI double.
- In the bottom of the third inning, Stauffer and Miranda both hit sacrifice flies to left field, bringing in two runs for the Cougars to narrow the score to 4-3.
- In the top of the fourth, the Maple Leafs added two more runs to extend their lead to 6-3. Riley then hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Lepper and making the score 6-4.
- USF put together a big fifth inning, scoring six runs to retake the lead, with the score at 10-6 in favor of the Cougars. The inning was highlighted by RBI singles from Patton, Nolan, Pesa and Riley and an RBI double from Stauffer.
- The Cougars held on for the 10-6 win to give the Cougars their 22nd win in the league, securing the second spot in the Crossroads League Tournament.
- As a team, Saint Francis recorded 12 hits and seven walks in game two. Riley went a perfect 3-3 at the plate with three RBI, two doubles and a sac fly. Pesa hit 3-4 with two RBI, a run scored and a stolen base. Stauffer also finished with two RBI and a double.
- Perry Stow earned the win on the mound for USF, striking out four batters while allowing only three hits in four innings of relief.
SAINT FRANCIS 11, GOSHEN 10 (11 INNINGS)
- The Maple Leafs jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning during Saturday's first game.
- In the bottom half of the inning, Riley hit a single to right field, driving in a run and reducing Goshen's lead to one run.
- Lepper hit an RBI single up the middle, and Riley followed with an RBI double, giving USF a 3-2 lead in the second inning.
- Zach Trojanowski added a sacrifice fly to center field in the bottom of the third inning, scoring Stauffer and extending Saint Francis's lead to 4-2.
- The Cougars took a 9-2 advantage in the bottom of the fourth inning. Pesa led off the inning with an RBI single through the left side. Payton Fulton then scored on a passed ball, followed by Lytle's single up the middle that brought in another run. Patton capped the inning with a two-run double to left field, bringing the score to 9-2.
- With one out in the top of the sixth inning, McRae struck out the Goshen batter looking, recording his seventh strikeout of the game and breaking the USF school record for career strikeouts.
- A bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh inning extended USF's lead to 10-2.
- However, the Maple Leafs rallied with a strong eighth inning, tying the game at 10-10
- Neither team was able to score again before the end of the ninth inning, forcing the game into extra innings.
- With one out and bases loaded in the bottom of the eleventh inning, Stauffer singled down the left field line to give Saint Francis the walk-off 11-10 win in game one on Saturday.
- The Cougars had 11 hits and 10 walks, with Riley going 3-4 at the plate with two RBI, a double, three stolen bases and a run scored. Lepper and Stauffer both went 2-5 with a combined three RBI, four runs scored, and three stolen bases. Patton also had an extra-base hit and two RBI.
- McRae recorded seven strikeouts while limiting the Maple Leafs to four hits over 5.2 innings as the Cougars' starting pitcher.
- Andrew Zellers earned the win after pitching two innings of relief, striking out three and allowing two hits.
SAINT FRANCIS 4, GOSHEN 2 (7 INNINGS)
- The Cougars were the first to score in the final game of the four-game series, taking an early 1-0 lead in the first inning.
- Xavier Gonsalves hit a single to right center to drive in two runs and extend USF's lead to 3-0 in the second inning.
- In the bottom of the sixth inning, a bases-loaded walk from Lepper gave Saint Francis a 4-0 advantage.
- The Maple Leafs scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning, but the Cougars held off Goshen's rally to secure the two-run win and the series sweep.
- In Saturday's second game, Saint Francis had three hits and seven walks. Gonsalves went 2-2 at the plate with two RBI. Lepper also had an RBI, while Stauffer, Lytle and Trojanowski all had stolen bases.
- The Cougars' pitching staff, consisting of Hunter Frost, Jaden Markus and Matthew Roettger combined for eight strikeouts while holding Goshen to five hits and one earned run.
The Saint Francis baseball team concludes the regular season with an overall record of 28-22 and a Crossroads League record of 24-12. The Cougars have earned the No. 2 seed in the league tournament and will await the highest remaining seed out of Wednesday night's play in games between Huntington and Spring Arbor or Marian and Grace.
Cougar fans can stay updated on all events and recaps with USF Athletics by visiting saintfranciscougars.com.
