VERO BEACH, Fla. – The Geneva College baseball team picked up its first wins of 2019 on Tuesday, sweeping Norwich University by narrow scores of 4-3 in game one, and 3-2 in game two, both in comeback fashion in seven inning games.  Geneva improved to 2-1 on the season, while Norwich fell to 2-3.

In game one, Norwich struck first against junior starting pitcher Josh Grant (Allison Park, Pa./Shaler), scoring twice in the first inning with two outs.

Geneva scored its first run in the third inning on a two-out double from sophomore Garrison Wieland (Sharpsville, Pa./Sharpsville), driving in sophomore Tyler Seliga (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon).  However, Norwich got that run back with a run in the bottom of the fourth.

The Golden Tornadoes then put together a big inning in the top of the sixth, scoring three times to take a 4-3 lead.  Geneva took advantage of Norwich's command issues on the mound, as the Cadets walked three batters and hit another.  Senior Mark Overmier (Crofton, Md./Mount St. Joseph) drove in senior Dillon Taggart (Livingston Manor, NY/Livingston Manor Central) for the eventual winning run.

Freshman pitcher Aaron Erimias was key in relief, throwing 2.2 innings of strong relief work, giving up just one hit and striking out three to pick up the win.  Both Seliga and Wieland finished the game 1-for-3, as Geneva made the most of its five hits.

The second game followed a similar script.  Norwich scored twice in the second inning off sophomore starting pitcher Jacob Cardenas (Homestead, Fla./Miami Killian), giving the Cadets an early 2-0 lead.  However, Cardenas settled down from there, keeping the Norwich offense under wraps.

Geneva scored a run in the third inning on a two-out single from Seliga to close the deficit to 2-1, and that's where the score remained for the next three innings.

The Golden Tornadoes finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Senior Josh Baptiste (Gasport, NY/Royalton Hartland Central) had the big hit, a triple that drove in Taggart to tie things up.  Then with two outs, senior Jacob Yarnell (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) came up with the game-winning single to drive home Baptiste, giving Geneva its first lead of the game, 3-2.

Senior Jericho Hilling (Williamsburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) relieved Cardenas in the seventh, striking out the first two batters.  He then worked around a walk, retiring the final batter on a fly ball to close out the comeback victory and pick up the save.

Cardenas picked up the win, going six innings, giving up four hits and two runs while striking out four.  Baptiste was 1-for-2, including the big triple, scoring once while driving in one.  Overmier finished 2-for-4.

"We had great pitching today from Josh and Aaron in game one and Jacob and Jericho in game two," said Head Coach Alan Sumner.  "We then got the clutch hitting when we needed it.  This was a great team showing today."

Geneva continues its stretch of games in Florida when it takes on Cairn tomorrow at 12:30 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.