SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The Spring Arbor University baseball team split its Crossroads League doubleheader against Huntington University Saturday, dropping the opening game 10-6 before earning a 5-2 win in game two. The Cougars and Foresters split the season series 2-2 with each team picking up a victory in a doubleheader on Friday.

Spring Arbor and Huntington, along with Bethel College, remain tied for third in the league standings with identical 8-6 records. The Cougars are now 13-16 overall while the Foresters hold a mark of 13-22 on the season.

In game one, the Cougars held a 2-0 lead through three innings, but the Foresters scored seven unanswered runs over the next two frames, including a five-run fifth inning, to take control.

Junior Tyler Reed belted a three-run home run in the home half of the fifth to close the gap to two, 7-5, but a two-run home run by HU's Dylan Hendricks in the sixth inning gave the Foresters some cushion as they held on for the win.

The Cougars pounded out 12 hits in the contest. Reed continued his torrid hitting going 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBI, finishing just a triple shy of the cycle. Four other players also recorded multi-hit games, including Chris Triplett, who also scored two runs.

Brody Harris got the start on the mound and pitched 4.2 innings allowing five earned runs while striking out three batters.

In the nightcap, it was the Foresters who jumped on top plating a run in each of the first two innings. The Cougars answered though with five runs in the bottom of the second, doing all of their damage with two outs. Alex Holley got the rally started with a two-out single before stealing second base and taking third on a wild pitch. Nick Harris finished off a terrific at-bat with a single into right field to keep the inning alive and score Holley. Three batters later, Conner Lengerich capped the scoring with a three-run bomb to left-center field.

That would be all the run support Spencer Goebel needed as he shut down the Foresters the rest of the way to earn his third win of the campaign. After surrendering the early runs, the senior right-hander allowed just two hits over the final five innings while registering four strikeouts.

Reed collected two more hits to extend his hitting streak to seven games. Over the span of his streak, he is batting .591 (13-for-22) with four home runs and 13 RBI.

Up next, Spring Arbor will host No. 21 Davenport University (27-8) in non-conference action on Tuesday, Apr. 19 before traveling to Winona Lake, Indiana for a four-game series with Grace College (18-20, 5-11 CL) on Thursday, Apr. 21 and Saturday, Apr. 23.

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