BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – Not a lot has gone right for the Geneva College baseball team this season, and Saturday was another tough day for the Golden Tornadoes.  Thiel swept Geneva by scores of 6-4 and 14-0.  Thiel improved to 13-16, 9-8 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 6-18, 1-13 in the PAC.

In the first game of the day, sophomore Jacob Cardenas (Homestead, Fla./Miami Killian) took the mound, and Thiel took advantage of some control issues, with Cardenas issuing a walk and hitting a batter, along with a Geneva error, to score twice in the first inning to take an early lead.  Thiel doubled that lead with two more runs in the top of the second to take a 4-0 lead.

Geneva's offense got going in the bottom of the inning as senior Josh Baptiste (Gasport, N.Y./Royalton Hartland Central) singled in two runs with two outs to cut Thiel's lead in half, 4-2.

Sophomore Dillon Bickerton (Salem, Ohio/Salem) drove in a run with a single in the bottom of the third to close the deficit further, 4-3.

Thiel answered back with single runs in the top of the fourth and fifth innings off Cardenas, increasing its lead to 6-3.  Senior Jericho Hilling (Williamsburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) sent a shot over the left field fence in the bottom of the fifth inning to make it 6-4.  Geneva's best chance to tie the game came in the bottom of the sixth, when the Golden Tornadoes left runners on second and third to end the inning, and Thiel closed the game out in the seventh for the 6-4 win.

Hilling finished the game 1-for-2 with two walks and the home run.  Baptiste was 1-for-4 with two RBIs.  Cardenas picked up the loss, going six innings while giving up eight hits and six runs, four that were earned, along with three walks and two strikeouts.

In the second game of the day, sophomore Dylan O'Rourke (Hutchinson, Pa./Yough) got the start, and an error by the defense behind him in the first inning allowed Thiel to score two unearned runs.

The Golden Tornadoes had a chance to respond in the bottom of the first after loading the bases with one out, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the scoring threat.  It would prove to be Geneva's best scoring chance of the game.

Thiel pushed across single runs in the third and fifth innings off O'Rourke to make it 4-0, and then the Tomcats broke the game open in the sixth.  Thiel scored five times in the inning, knocking O'Rourke out, and the Tomcats continued to pile on runs against the Geneva bullpen.  Thiel's Nick Fowkes, the leading hitter in the PAC, hit for the cycle before both teams began subbing freely, with the final score ending up 14-0.

Geneva managed just five hits in the game, with freshman Dwayne Cameron (Homestead, Fla./Everglades Prep Academy) going 2-for-5 with a double.  O'Rourke got the loss, going 5.1 innings and giving up nine hits, eight runs, six of which were earned, along with three walks and five strikeouts.

Geneva opens a three-game series on Thursday against preseason PAC favorite Washington & Jefferson.  The Presidents are currently undefeated in the PAC.  The first game is at home at 4:00 p.m., with two more games at Washington & Jefferson on Saturday.


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.