LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Geneva College softball team opened its season with a tough opponent on Saturday, the University of Lynchburg, and combined with a number of Geneva mistakes in the field, the Golden Tornadoes came home with two losses.  After Geneva had its initial season-opening games against Roanoke College rained out yesterday, the Golden Tornadoes lost both games to the Hornets, 5-0 and 13-0.  Lynchburg improved to 4-0, while Geneva's record is now 0-2.

Head Coach Van Zanic gave the ball in game one of the season to freshman pitcher Nicole West (Glenwood, Md./McDonogh), and West pitched solidly against the dangerous Lynchburg lineup.  She gave up only one hit in the first three innings, but that hit was a home run by Lynchburg's Taylor Mabry in the first inning after a Geneva error, leading to two runs.

Geneva had a chance to answer back in the top of the second, loading the bases with one out, but back-to-back strikeouts left the runners stranded.  Mabry struck again leading off the fourth inning, hitting her second home run of the day to make it 3-0.

Lynchburg homered to start the fifth inning as well, and the Hornets controlled the rest of the game, winning 5-0.  The home runs proved to be the difference, as both teams finished with four hits, but three of Lynchburg's went over the fence.  West gave up all five runs, four of them earned, in 4.1 innings, picking up the loss.

In the second game of the day, sophomore Kyleigh Jo Ward (Laceyville, Pa./Wyalusing) entered the circle, and Lynchburg struck early for two runs to start the first inning, just like the first game.  The Hornets put the game way with five runs in the third, all unearned after another Geneva error.  Lynchburg then added six more runs in the fourth, five of them unearned after two more Geneva errors, putting Lynchburg up 13-0, and the game was called after the fifth due to the run-rule.  Ward gave up seven runs in three innings, but just two were earned runs.

"Today was a great example to our entire team of the importance of limiting mistakes," said Zanic.  "This is what happens when you make mistakes against quality teams.  We are not interested in excuses or in talking about the quality of our opponents.  The bottom line is we need to play better and find improvement every day.  We will get a true look at our resilience and how our team responds when we go down to Florida.  It's a long year, and I believe in this group."

Geneva's next game is Monday, March 11, against Ursinus College when the Golden Tornadoes play their first of 12 games in Florida over Spring Break.


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.