KISSIMMEE, Fla. – On Monday, the Geneva College softball team opened a 12-game stretch in Florida over the upcoming Spring Break week, playing two games.  After dropping the first game to Ursinus College, 9-1, the Golden Tornadoes rallied back against Delaware Valley University in the second game, winning 9-8, picking up their first victory of the season.  Geneva is now 1-3.

In the first game, Geneva got on the board first against Ursinus, as freshman Paige Hollinger (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) drew a walk in the first inning to force in senior Haley Sainato (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk), giving Geneva its first run of the season.  Unfortunately, things went downhill from there.

Ursinus tied things up in the second inning against Hollinger, making the first start of her collegiate career.  The Bears then took the lead for good in the third inning, scoring twice more.

The Golden Tornadoes had a promising start to the fourth inning, getting the first two batters on base, but Geneva stranded both runners.

Back-to-back Geneva errors in the fifth inning gave Ursinus two more runs, and the Bears finished the game off with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, ending the game due to the run-rule, 9-1.  Hollinger gave up eight runs, six earned, in 5.2 innings in picking up the loss.  The Golden Tornadoes managed just three hits in the game.

In the second game of the day against Delaware Valley, Geneva found itself in an early hole after the Aggies scored twice in the first inning off starting pitcher sophomore Kyleigh Jo Ward (Laceyville, Pa./Wyalusing), aided by another Golden Tornado error.  Geneva was in position to answer back in the bottom half of the inning after loading the bases with no outs, but a strikeout, a pop-up, and a groundout ended the threat.

Delaware Valley added three more runs in the top of the second inning to take a 5-0 lead.  At that point, Geneva's offense finally came alive.  After scoring just one run in the first 19 innings of the season, the Golden Tornadoes scored five times in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game up.  Freshman Sarah Johnson (Highlands Ranch, Co./Mountain Vista) had a 2-RBI single, junior April Lude (Canfield, Ohio/Western Reserve) had a 2-RBI double, and sophomore Madison Schultz (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) added an RBI double.

Geneva took its first lead of the game an inning later, scoring three more times, the big hit coming on a 2-out, 2-RBI single from Johnson.

Delaware Valley added a run in the fourth, but Geneva countered that run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single from Schultz, scoring Johnson, making it 9-6.  That run proved to be crucial for the Golden Tornadoes.

Sophomore Vanessa Templeton (Middlebourne W.Va./Tyler Consolidated) entered in relief in the top of the seventh, and the first three batters singled to make the score 9-7.  However, Templeton recovered by retiring the final three batters, stranding the tying run on third base for the 9-8 win.

Johnson had a big game, going 3-for-3 with two runs and four RBIs.  Schultz finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Lude was 1-for-4 with two RBIs.  Freshman Emma Gilmore (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) was 1-for-2 with two runs scored, while Ward went 2-for-2 at the plate, scoring twice, while picking up the win after going 6.0 innings, giving up six runs, five earned.

"I was really proud of the way we battled back in game two," said Head Coach Van Zanic.  "I think it shows a lot of character losing the way we did in the first game and then coming back after going down early in game two.  We have a lot of work to do, but it's nice to get the first win under our belt."

Geneva is back in action tomorrow in Florida, playing Utica College at 11:15 a.m. followed by a game against Webster University at 1:30 p.m.


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.