BETHANY, W.Va. – It has been a rough start to the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) season for the Geneva College baseball team.  The Golden Tornadoes opened the season with eight-straight PAC losses, and things continued to get worse after Geneva lost the first game of a doubleheader at Bethany on Tuesday afternoon, 16-1.  However, the Golden Tornadoes finally got into the win column with an offensive explosion in the second game, scoring a season-high in runs with a 14-8 victory.  Geneva is now 6-14, 1-9 in the PAC, while Bethany stands at 17-9, 7-6 in the PAC.

The first game couldn't have gone much worse.  Bethany got to junior starter Josh Grant (Allison Park, Pa./Shaler) early.  The Bison struck for two runs in the first and then knocked Grant out of the game with five runs in the second, breaking the game open.

Bethany's offense continued to pile on runs, adding a run in the fourth, six more in the fifth, and two in the sixth, in a game scheduled to go just seven innings.

Geneva's offense managed just four hits in the game.  Senior Jacob Yarnell (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) provided most of the offense, going 2-for-3 with two doubles while scoring Geneva's lone run.

Sophomore Dylan O'Rourke (Hutchinson, Pa./Yough) took the mound in game two, and he had much better success against the potent Bison lineup.  Bethany did pick up a single run in the bottom of the second inning after a Geneva error, but otherwise O'Rourke kept Bethany at bay early on.

Geneva picked up its first runs in the third inning, scoring three times.  Freshman Dwayne Cameron (Homestead, Fla./Everglades Prep Academy) led off with a double.  Cameron eventually came around to score on an error, and then two batters later sophomore Garrison Wieland (Sharpsville, Pa./Sharpsville) drove in two more runs with an RBI-double, giving Geneva its first lead of the day, 3-1.

Yarnell's leadoff single in the top of the fourth inning led to another Geneva run, courtesy of an RBI-groundout from sophomore Tyler Seliga (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon), increasing the Geneva lead to 4-1.

Bethany closed the gap with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.  After the first two batters were retired, a walk and a home run reduced the Golden Tornado lead to 4-3.

Geneva came up with a big inning in the top of the seventh.  With two outs and the bases loaded, Cameron singled to center, driving in two runs.  Cameron's hit opened the floodgates, as Seliga, senior Dillon Taggart (Livingston Manor, N.Y./Livingston Manor Central) and senior Mark Overmier (Crofton, Md./Mount St. Joseph) all followed with RBI-hits, enabling Geneva to score six times in the inning, increasing its lead to 10-3.

Geneva went to the bullpen in the bottom of the seventh after another Bethany run, but sophomore Dillon Bickerton (Salem, Ohio/Salem) homered in the top of the eighth to get that run back, making it 11-4.

The Bison made it interesting with four runs in the bottom of the eighth to close within three, but the Golden Tornadoes answered with three runs in the top of the ninth on RBIs from Wieland and Yarnell, and Geneva closed things out with a scoreless ninth to win 14-8.

O'Rourke picked up his first win of the season, going 6.2 innings while giving up five hits and four runs, while striking out two.  All but one starter for Geneva had at least one hit, while seven starters finished with at least two hits.  Seliga finished 3-for-5 with three runs and three RBIs, Taggart was 3-for-5 with a double, three runs and two RBIs, Cameron finished 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs, while Wieland went 2-for-6 with four RBIs.

"It's been a rough stretch for us," said Head Coach Alan Sumner.  "With the way things have been going, and with the way the first game went, it would have been easy to fold going into the second game.  But Dylan gave us a really good pitching performance, and the offense finally came alive.  Hopefully this win will get us some confidence back heading into the rest of the season."

Geneva travels to Saint Vincent tomorrow for a 4:30 p.m. start in a game that has been postponed twice already due to rain.  The Golden Tornadoes will then open a three-game weekend series at Thiel on Friday.


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.