BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College baseball team celebrated it six seniors on Saturday, and the Golden Tornadoes hoped to pick up a couple of wins to go along with the celebration.  Unfortunately for Geneva, the Golden Tornadoes fell to Chatham in close games, 6-4 and 4-1.  Chatham improved to 6-26, 3-17 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 6-24, 1-19 in the PAC.

The first innings proved to be a problem for Geneva on Saturday.  In game one, after freshman starter Aaron Erimias (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory) retired two of the first three batters, four straight Cougars reached base with two outs as Chatham score four times before the first inning was over.

Erimias settled down from there, retiring 18 of the next 19 batters, which enabled Geneva to begin to chip away at the Chatham lead.

Geneva got on the board in the bottom of the second when senior Jericho Hilling (Williamsburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) homered off the left-field foul pole.  Sophomore Garrison Wieland (Sharpsville, Pa./Sharpsville) singled home a run in the third, and senior Jacob Yarnell (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) singled home a run in the fourth to cut Chatham's lead to 4-3.

That is where things stayed heading into the bottom of the seventh, the last scheduled inning of the game.  Senior Josh Baptiste (Gasport, N.Y./Royalton Hartland Central) tripled to lead off the inning, and a hit batter and a walk loaded the bases with no outs.  Senior Mark Overmier (Crofton, Md./Mount St. Joseph) smoked a ball to center that ended up as a sacrifice fly, tying the game, but Geneva could not push across the winning run.

Chatham took advantage in the eighth, with a Geneva error extending the inning, to score two unearned runs, and Geneva could not rally in the bottom of the inning, losing 6-4.

Erimias was excellent after the first inning, going 6.2 innings, giving up five hits and four runs while striking out five.  Hilling finished 3-for-4 with the home run, while sophomore Tyler Seliga (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon) and freshman Alex Fee (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) both went 2-for-3.

Sophomore Jacob Cardenas (Homestead, Fla./Miami Killian) took the mound in game two, and once again Chatham jumped out to an early lead.  The damage was self-inflicted, as three Geneva errors led to both runs.

Geneva's offense struggled most of the way in game two, managing just two hits through the first five innings.  Chatham added a run in the fifth before Geneva finally managed a run in the sixth after senior Dillon Taggart (Livingston Manor, N.Y./Livingston Manor Central) led off with a double and scored on Seliga's RBI-groundout, cutting Chatham's lead to 3-1.

Another Geneva error led to a Cougar run in the seventh, and Geneva failed to score again, losing 4-1.

Cardenas pitched four innings, giving up six hits and three runs, one earned, while striking out six.  Senior John Suffern (Queensbury, N.Y./Glenn Falls) was solid in relief, going 2.2 innings, giving up just two hits and one unearned run while striking out one.  Taggart led the offense, going 2-for-4 with a run and a double.

"It was a frustrating day to not be able to pick up wins today," said Head Coach Alan Sumner.  "I thought all six of our seniors contributed in today's games, though, and I'm very grateful for their hard work over the past four seasons.  I just wish we would have been able to come up with a win for them, but we just made too many mistakes to overcome."

Geneva finishes up the non-conference portion of its schedule with a home doubleheader on Tuesday against Kent State Tuscarawas, starting at 1:00 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.