BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College softball team put together one of its best days of the season on Tuesday afternoon, on a day that the Golden Tornadoes really needed it.  Facing a Washington & Jefferson team that Geneva came into the day trailing by a game in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) standings, the Golden Tornadoes picked up two important victories in a sweep of W&J by scores of 7-6 and 9-1.  Geneva evened its overall record at 14-14, 6-4 in the PAC, while W&J fell to 14-16, 5-5 in the PAC.

The first game could not have started much better for Geneva.  Freshman starting pitcher Nicole West (Glenwood, Md./McDonogh) retired the Presidents in order in the top of the first, and the Golden Tornadoes struck for four runs in the bottom of the inning.  The big hit came from sophomore Marina Manuppelli (Mars, Pa./Mars) when she cleared the bases with a double to center with two outs.

West ran into trouble in the top of the third.  She retired two of the first three batters, but struggled to secure the last out.  Five straight batters reached base for W&J, and by the time the inning was over, the Presidents had tied the score at 4-4.

Manuppelli answered in the bottom of the third inning with a two-out RBI-single to give Geneva the lead again, but W&J came right back in the top of the fourth to tie the game at 5-5 against sophomore reliever Vanessa Templeton (Middlebourne, W. Va./Tyler Consolidated).

W&J took its first lead of the game with a run in the top of the fifth, but it could have been worse.  After taking the lead, the Presidents still had the bases loaded with one out, but West, who was switched to shortstop after Templeton came in, snagged a line drive and fired to Manuppelli at third to double off the runner to get Geneva out of the inning.  It would not be the last time West did that in the game.

Manuppelli came up big again for the Golden Tornadoes in the bottom of the inning.  Her double off the wall in centerfield drove home freshman Paige Hollinger (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin), who had doubled herself earlier in the inning, tying the score at 6-6.

In the bottom of the sixth, sophomore Kyleigh Jo Ward (Laceyville, Pa./Wyalusing) led off the inning by drawing a walk after an eight-pitch at-bat.  She stole second, went to third on a groundout and scored what would prove to be the winning run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman Sarah Johnson (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista).

West ended up relieving Templeton in the top of the seventh with one on and one out, and West threw one pitch and promptly snared a line drive back up the middle, throwing to first to double off the runner to end the game, 7-6.  West picked up the save, while Templeton picked up her second win of the season.

Manuppelli was the star of game one at the plate, finishing 3-for-3 with two doubles and five RBIs.  Hollinger also had a strong game, going 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and one RBI.  Senior Haley Sainato (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk) went 2-for-4 with a double, a run and a stolen base.

Junior Bobbi Ann Theiss (East Liverpool, Ohio/Beaver Local) took the ball in game two, and she continued her impressive pitching in the circle.  She gave up a run in the top of the third on a soft hit, but otherwise completely controlled the Presidents.

Geneva responded to that run in the top of the third with four runs in the bottom of the inning.  Manuppelli singled home two runs, with sophomore Madison Schultz (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) and Ward also picking up RBIs.

Geneva added a run in the bottom of the fourth when Johnson's drive down the left field line got past the diving W&J outfielder, enabling Johnson to circle the bases for an inside-the-park home run. 

The Golden Tornadoes then finished the game with four runs in the bottom the fifth inning, the last two runs coming on a 2-RBI single from Johnson, giving Geneva a 9-1 lead and ending the game due to the run-rule.

Theiss picked up her sixth win of the season to move her record to 6-1 and lower her ERA to 2.16.  She went all five innings and gave up just three hits and one run while striking out two.

Johnson had the big game at the plate for the Golden Tornadoes in game two, finishing 4-for-4 with the home run, while also scoring twice, driving in three runs and stealing a base.  Manuppelli had another good game, going 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs, while Ward also finished 2-for-3 with a double, a run and two RBIs.  Hollinger and West both finished 2-for-3 as well.

"It was a really complete day," said Head Coach Van Zanic.  "We got some great contributions from the middle of our lineup which helped give us some separation.  We started off well in game one, and then Vanessa again came in and did a very nice job controlling their offense in the middle of the game.  Our offense was then able to put some hits together late to pick up the win.

"In game two, we came out and had really good at-bats offensively.  Bobbi Ann has been amazing all year, and she was really good again today.  We've put ourselves in a pretty good place after today, but there's still a lot of work to do."

Geneva gets right back into action tomorrow with a non-conference home doubleheader against Carnegie Mellon, starting at 3:30 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.