LATROBE, Pa. – The Geneva College softball team saw its season end on Thursday in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) playoffs at Saint Vincent College.  The sixth inning proved to be the key inning in both games, as the Golden Tornadoes lost their first game of the day to the Saint Vincent Bearcats, 6-2, in the double elimination tournament, and then saw their season end with a 3-2 loss to the Westminster Titans later in the afternoon.  The two losses dropped Geneva's final record to 19-19 on the season.

Senior Haley Sainato (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk) led off the first game with an infield single, but the PAC leader in steals was caught stealing, which was big when freshman Sarah Johnson (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) followed with a double.  Geneva would fail to score in the inning.

Junior Bobbi Ann Theiss (East Liverpool, Ohio/Beaver Local) entered the circle in the bottom of the inning, and she kept the Bearcats in check early, as neither team was able to score through the first three innings.  Theiss gave up just one single to the first twelve batters she faced.

Saint Vincent broke through in the bottom of the fourth, though.  Theiss retired the first two batters, but the next four Bearcats reached base, with two scoring, to take a 2-0 lead.

Geneva answered in the top of the sixth.  Freshman Nicole West (Glenwood, Md./McDonogh) drove in a run, and the Golden Tornadoes would go on to load the bases with no outs.  However, Geneva was only able to add one more run on a sacrifice fly from freshman Paige Hollinger (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin), tying the score at 2-2.
 
That missed opportunity proved costly in the bottom of the inning.  Saint Vincent broke the game open by scoring four times, knocking Theiss out of the game.  Geneva committed two errors in the inning that contributed to the Bearcats' big inning.

The Golden Tornadoes proceeded to load the bases with one out in the top of the seventh, but Geneva couldn't do any further damage, losing 6-2.

Theiss picked up the loss, pitching five innings while giving up five hits and five runs.  Sainato led the offense with a 3-for-4 effort, scoring once.

That loss dropped Geneva into the loser's bracket, where the Golden Tornadoes took on Westminster, who had lost to Thiel earlier in the day.  West entered the circle, and the Titans scored twice in the bottom of the second, both runs scoring with two outs, to put Geneva in an early hole, 2-0.

Geneva rallied for two runs in the top of the fifth inning.  After a leadoff single, sophomore Kyleigh Jo Ward (Laceyville, Pa./Wyalusing) doubled off the top of the left field fence to put runners at second and third with no outs.  After a popup, Geneva caught a break when the Westminster right fielder dropped a fly ball.  One run would have scored, but the error gave Geneva an extra out, and the Golden Tornadoes took advantage when Johnson singled home the tying run with two outs.

Unfortunately, Geneva returned the favor in the bottom of the sixth.  Westminster had two on and two outs when a Geneva error on a ground ball extended the inning, loading the bases, and the Titans took advantage with a single to bring home what proved to be the game-winning run.

Geneva was retired in order in the top of the seventh, with sophomore Madison Schultz (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) driving one to deep left that was caught in front of the wall, and the Golden Tornadoes saw their season end with a 3-2 defeat.

West pitched all six innings, giving up six hits and three runs while striking out three.  Offensively, no Golden Tornado managed more than one hit in the game.

"It's been the story of two seasons with a relatively young group," said Head Coach Van Zanic.  "We seemed to make some key mistakes at critical times that have really hurt, and today that was the case again.

"With that being said, I love these seniors as people even more than I do as players.  Hopefully they have helped set a standard that we can uphold for years to come.  It's difficult to swallow today, but a foundation has been set."

Geneva says goodbye to Sainato along with seniors Ashley Grow (Beaver, Ohio/Waverly), Ericka Hess (Erie, Pa./Iroquois) and Alexis Nagy (Hadley, Pa./Commodore Perry).  The Golden Tornadoes return the bulk of their starting lineup, though, and hope to build upon this season that saw them make it back to the PAC playoffs for the first time in four seasons.


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.