NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Geneva College baseball team has had a rough start to its Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) schedule, and Wednesday ended up no differently at Westminster College.  After Geneva fell down early, its ninth-inning rally was not quite enough as the Golden Tornadoes fell to the Titans, 7-6.  Westminster improved to 9-8, 4-2 in the PAC, while Geneva is still looking for its first PAC win, falling to 5-11, 0-6 in the PAC.

The game started well for the Golden Tornadoes when sophomore Garrison Wieland (Sharpsville, Pa./Sharpsville) drove a pitch over the left field fence for a home run to give Geneva a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Westminster answered back with single runs in the first and second innings against freshman starting pitcher Aaron Erimias (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory).  Geneva tied things back up at 2-2 in the top of the third on an RBI-groundout from senior Jericho Hilling (Williamsburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg), but a costly 2-out error in the bottom of the inning gifted two more runs to Westminster.  The Titans added another run in the bottom of the fourth to put Geneva in a 5-2 hole.

Sophomore Jacob Cardenas (Homestead, Fla./Miami Killian) relieved Erimias to begin the bottom of the fifth inning and worked around a one-out error to keep Westminster scoreless for the first time in the game. 

Westminster tacked on another run in the bottom of the seventh.   Geneva answered that run with one of its own in the top of the eighth inning, with a double from Wieland being the key hit, cutting the deficit to 6-3.

The ninth inning proved eventful for both teams.  The first three Golden Tornadoes reached to load the bases in the top of the inning.  After a strikeout, Geneva caught a break on a possible double-play ball off the bat of senior Mark Overmier (Crofton, Md./Mount St. Joseph) that the Titan's third baseman booted, allowing one run to score.  Wieland's sacrifice fly to deep left center scored another run. 

The Golden Tornadoes then caught another break to push the tying run across.  On a pitch that walked sophomore Dillon Bickerton (Salem, Ohio/Salem), the Titan's catcher fired the ball down to third base, catching senior Jacob Yarnell (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) off the bag.  Yarnell broke for home, and as the Titan's third baseman followed and began to throw the ball home to get Yarnell out, he bobbled the ball, and Yarnell slid across the plate to tie the score at 6-6.  Bickerton tried to take second on the play, and he was thrown out, ending the inning.

However, in the bottom of the ninth, Westminster loaded the bases with two outs against sophomore reliever Jason Bagliore (Brooklyn, N.Y./Millenium), and the Titan's Hunter Alexander singled to right to drive home the winning run, 7-6.

Wieland led the way offensively, finishing 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and two RBIs.  Overmier reached base three times and scored two runs.  Bagliore picked up the loss to move his record to 0-2.

"It was a very good game, and I was proud of the way we kept fighting after trailing most of the way," said Head Coach Alan Sumner.  "It was nice to come back and tie the game late, but we just couldn't finish it off.  It was a tough one to lose."

Geneva opens a three-game series with Saint Vincent this weekend.  Geneva travels to Saint Vincent on Friday for a single game starting at 4:00 p.m., and then the Golden Tornadoes host a doubleheader between the two schools on Saturday beginning 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.