MUNHALL, Pa. – It had been over three weeks, but the Geneva College baseball team finally got back into the win column on Thursday night at Chatham, rallying for a comeback 6-5 victory in a rain-shortened game that was called in the seventh.  With the victory, the Golden Tornadoes broke a 12-game losing streak, improving their record to 7-26, 2-19 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Chatham fell to 6-27, 3-18 in the PAC.

Freshman Marshall Wheeler (Butler, Pa./Butler) got the start for Geneva, and neither team could generate any offense through the first two innings.  Chatham got on the scoreboard first, though, when the first five Cougars reached base to start the bottom of the third, leading to four runs for Chatham.

Geneva got on the board in the top of the fourth when sophomore Tyler Seliga (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon) singled home senior Dillon Taggart (Livingston Manor, N.Y./Livingston Manor Central), who had led off the inning with a double.  However, Chatham answered in the bottom of the inning with a run of its own, making the score 5-1.

In the top of the fifth, Geneva loaded the bases with one out, and senior Mark Overmier (Crofton, Md./Mount St. Joseph) and sophomore Garrison Wieland (Sharpsville, Pa./Sharpsville) each drove in a run to cut the deficit to 5-3. 

The Golden Tornadoes took their first lead of the game with three runs in the top of the sixth.  Freshman Alex Fee (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) drove in two with a single, and Taggart followed with a sacrifice fly to put Geneva up 6-5, which ended up being the game-winning RBI.

The top of the seventh, which officially never happened, saw Geneva score for the fourth straight inning, plating two more runners on an RBI-double from Seliga and another sacrifice fly, this one off the bat of senior Jacob Yarnell (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton), pushing Geneva's lead to 8-5.

Chatham loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the inning against sophomore reliever Jacob Cardenas (Homestead, Fla./Miami Killian).  Cardenas managed to get the next two batters out without giving up a run before a thunderstorm arrived, causing a long rain delay.  Eventually the game was called, which meant the game reverted back to the score at the beginning of the inning, negating anything that happened in the seventh, with Geneva winning 6-5.

Freshman Angel Padron (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Pembroke Pines Charter) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Wheeler to pick up the win, moving his record to 2-0.  Yarnell finished 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored.  Sophomore Dillon Bickerton (Salem, Ohio/Salem) contributed two hits, while freshman Austin Willis (Temecula, Cali./Linfield Christian) went 1-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored.  Fee finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs.

Geneva finishes its season with a three-game series against Grove City this weekend.  The Golden Tornadoes host the Wolverines for a single game at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, and then finish with two games at Grove City on Saturday, 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.