WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Geneva College softball team split a pair of games at Washington & Jefferson (W&J) on Wednesday afternoon, winning the first game, 4-1, before dropping game two, 7-3. Geneva's record is now 12-14, 4-8 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while W&J's record is 7-15, 3-7 in the PAC.
In game one, freshman Kyleigh Jo Ward continued her strong play from the circle, as she shutdown the W&J offense for most of the game. The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when Geneva took advantage of a W&J error to score three runs. Freshman Angel Rowe came up with the big hit, a 2-RBI single. Those runs would prove to be all that Ward needed.
W&J did scratch a run across in the fourth, but that would be all the Presidents would get against Ward. Rowe would drive in an insurance run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly, and Geneva closed out the 4-1 victory.
Freshman Marina Manuppelli had a big game offensively, going 3-for-3 with two runs, while Rowe drove in three runs. Ward pitched the complete game, giving up just the one run on six hits to move her record to 4-5 on the season.
In game two, Geneva jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the top of the second on RBI singles from freshman Hailey Warrick and junior Ericka Hess. Geneva had a chance for an even bigger inning, but W&J shortstop Meghan Staab made a great diving grab of a line drive from junior Haley Sainato with two outs and runners on second and third to end the inning.
W&J responded immediately against starting pitcher Bobbi Ann Theiss, tying the game with two runs of its own. The Presidents continued to find success against Theiss, scoring two more runs in the fourth and three in the fifth to put W&J up 7-2. Sophomore April Lude had a late RBI single for the final run of the game in the 7-3 loss.
Geneva managed eight hits in the game, including Hess who went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Theiss pitched four innings before being taken out, and she picked up the loss to move her record to 7-8.
Geneva returns home on Saturday for a doubleheader against Waynesburg starting at 11:00 a.m. Waynesburg is currently 11-13 overall, 4-6 in the PAC.
Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 80 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs, and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report ranks Geneva as a Top Three Best Value Regional University with one of the Top 100 engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God's Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today's world.
