GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Geneva College softball team finished its season with a split at Grove City College on Saturday afternoon, winning the first game, 9-6, before a late comeback fell just short in game two, 9-8. In the process, junior Haley Sainato broke the Geneva career stolen base record, swiping number 82 in her career. Geneva finished the season with a 14-18 record, 6-12 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Grove City finished at 8-18, 6-12 in the PAC.
In game one, Geneva jumped on Grove City early. In the first inning, the Golden Tornadoes scored two runs on a double from freshman Madison Schultz. Geneva scored three more in the second inning, the big hit being a home run from freshman Hailey Warrick. The Golden Tornadoes finished off their barrage of runs with four more in the third inning to go up 9-0. Senior Hannah Logan had an RBI single, while Sainato and freshman Angel Rowe added RBI doubles.
Grove City's offense came to life against freshman starting pitcher Kyleigh Jo Ward in its half of the third, scoring four runs of its own. Grove City later added two more runs, but sophomore Bobbi Ann Theiss shut down the Wolverines over the final three innings to pick up the save, as the Golden Tornadoes held on for a 9-6 victory.
Rowe and Logan each had two hits, while Sainato scored two runs and drove in two more. Ward got the win, her sixth of the season, while Theiss picked up her second save of the year.
Game two couldn't have started any worse for Geneva. Two errors early in the first inning opened the door for Grove City to score eight runs, all unearned. Theiss was unable to make it out of the inning as freshman Vanessa Templeton was called in for relief.
Templeton would go on to have one of her best outings of the year, giving up just one run over five innings, which allowed the Golden Tornadoes to get back into the game.
Geneva responded to those eight runs with four runs of its own in the top of the second to cut the early deficit in half. Logan had the big hit in the inning, a two-run double. Geneva added single runs in the third, on an RBI from junior Ericka Hess, and the sixth, on an RBI from Rowe, to move to within 9-6 heading into the seventh.
The Golden Tornado offense made one last attempt at a comeback, scoring two runs to make it a one run game, but Geneva could not come up with the big hit at the end, leaving two runners on base, in the 9-8 loss.
Freshman Melice Rodriguez led the offense with three hits in the second game. Sainato, Rowe, Schultz and Logan each added two hits, as Geneva outhit Grove City 14-11.
"Today was a really good microcosm of our year," Head Coach Van Zanic said. "We hit the ball well all day long, but we gave up eight unearned runs to start the second game, and that cost us. But a credit to the character of the girls, they came back and almost put together what would have been one of the best comebacks that I've ever been a part of. But we let things snowball there in that first inning, as has happened to us at times this season, and we struggled to slow it down.
"Overall, though, I'm proud of how the team stuck together, especially with a fragmented year with all the weather issues we had. Our seniors, Hannah and Laura, are a great example of what it means to be a Geneva softball student-athlete in terms of everything on and off the field. But we've got a strong core group returning, and we are excited for the freshmen that will be joining us next season that hopefully will help us get back to where we want to be as a program, back in the playoffs and playing winning softball."
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.
