BETHANY, W. Va. – The Geneva College softball team opened Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play on Tuesday afternoon with an impressive offensive display, scoring a combined 21 runs in a doubleheader sweep against Bethany.  The Golden Tornadoes defeated the Bison in game one, 10-1, and then followed that up with an 11-7 victory in game two.  The two victories increase Geneva's season-high winning streak to five games and evens its record at 10-10 overall, including 2-0 in the PAC.  Bethany fell to 2-10, 0-2 in the PAC.
 
Geneva jumped ahead early in game one, as freshman Nicole West (Glenwood, Md./McDonogh) stayed hot.  She doubled home two runs to give Geneva a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.  Bethany scored a run without the aid of a hit in its half of the first, as back-to-back two-out errors gave the Bison a run against West, who also started in the circle.  West dominated from there, though.
 
The Golden Tornadoes gave West more than enough runs in the top of the second inning, scoring five times on singles from senior Haley Sainato (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk) and junior April Lude (Canfield, Ohio/Western Reserve), followed by a double from freshman Paige Hollinger (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin), increasing Geneva's lead to 7-1.
 
Geneva added a run in the third on an RBI-single from Sainato, and sophomore Marina Manuppelli (Mars, Pa./Mars) drove in two more runs with a single in the fourth, making the score 10-1.
 
While Geneva's offense was scoring with regularity, West was cruising.  She allowed only one hit, a single in the fourth inning, and she closed out the game that was called after five innings due to Geneva's big lead.  West picked up her third win of the season, and she has now pitched 19.1 straight innings without giving up an earned run.
 
West and Sainato led the offense, a theme that would continue in the second game.  West was a perfect 3-for-3 with a double, a run and two RBIs.  Sainato finished 3-for-4 with a double, two runs, two RBIs and a steal.  Lude scored twice and drove in two runs, while Hollinger was 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI.
 
The offense picked up right where it left off when game two started.  Geneva struck for three runs in the first inning on RBIs from West, Lude and Manuppelli.
 
Bethany tied things up in the bottom of the third inning against junior starter Bobbi Ann Theiss (East Liverpool, Ohio/Beaver Local), scoring three unearned runs after a Geneva error.  Geneva's offense immediately responded in the top of the fourth, though, with Sainato and West coming through once again with RBIs.
 
Bethany took advantage of another Geneva error to lead off the fifth, and that led to two more unearned runs for the Bison, evening the game at 5-5.
 
True to form, though, Geneva's offense didn't take long to retake the lead.  Geneva scored four times in the top of the sixth, with another double from Hollinger highlighting the inning that was helped by a Bethany error.
 
The Bison tried to rally in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with no outs.  However, sophomore Vanessa Templeton (Middlebourne, W. Va./Tyler Consolidated) relieved Theiss and kept the damage to two runs, keeping Geneva ahead 9-7.
 
Geneva came up with two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh, with an RBI-double from West and an RBI-single from senior Ashley Grow (Beaver, Ohio/Waverly).  Templeton then closed things out with a perfect seventh, picking up her fourth save of the season.
 
Theiss moved her record to a perfect 3-0.  She pitched five innings, giving up nine hits and seven runs, though only two were earned due to some shaky Geneva defense behind her. 
 
West had another huge game offensively, going 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and three RBIs.  She finished the doubleheader 6-for-7 with two doubles, three runs and five RBIs.  Sainato went 2-for-4 with three runs, two stolen bases and one RBI, giving her a doubleheader total of 5-for-8, five runs, three RBIs and three stolen bases.  Hollinger and Manuppelli each added two hits and two RBIs, while freshman Sarah Johnson scored twice and had another stolen base.
 
"It was certainly nice to open the conference with a pair of road wins," said Head Coach Van Zanic.  "This was by far our most productive offensive day of the year, with contributions from everyone.  The first game was our most complete game of the year, but we struggled defensively in game two and allowed them back into the game.  We are gaining confidence at just the right time, though."
 
Geneva faces its biggest challenge of the season on Thursday when the Golden Tornadoes host Saint Vincent for a doubleheader starting at 3:30 p.m.  The Bearcats were named the preseason PAC favorites and currently stand at 12-6.


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.