VERO BEACH, Fla. – The Geneva College baseball team earned a split against Norwich on Tuesday in Florida, breaking its four-game losing streak.  The Golden Tornadoes had one bad inning that cost them in their 10-5 loss in the first game, but Geneva rebounded in the second game for a convincing 14-8 victory.  Geneva's record now stands at 3-4, while Norwich is 5-5.

Norwich struck first in the first game of day, pushing across a run against senior starting pitcher Josh Grant (Allison Park, Pa./Shaler), but Grant was able to leave the bases loaded without further damage.

Geneva used a two-out rally in the top of the third, as sophomore Dwayne Cameron (Homestead, Fla./Everglades Prep Academy) came around to score on a single by freshman Alex McKay (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) to even the score at 1-1.  However, Norwich answered right back in the bottom of the inning with a run, though Grant was again able to limit the damage to just one run, escaping another bases-loaded jam.

In the top of the fourth inning, a two-out RBI-double from junior Dylan O'Rourke (Hutchinson, Pa./Yough) brought home freshman Austin Petraglia (Connellsville, Pa./Connellsville) to tie the score again at 2-2.  Geneva had a great opportunity in the top of the fifth inning to take the lead for the first time after a double by McKay gave Geneva runners at second and third with one out, but a strike out and a fly out ended the threat.

That missed opportunity ended up being a moot point when Norwich blew the game open with eight runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.  The final six runs of Norwich's rally occurred with two outs, as Geneva struggled to come up with that elusive third out.  The Golden Tornadoes did put together a three-run rally in the top of the seventh, with McKay picking up one RBI and Petraglia two RBIs on a single, but the hole was too big to dig out of, and Norwich was able to close out the 10-5 victory.

Grant went five innings and gave up eight hits and four runs, while striking out four, picking up his first loss of the season.  McKay led the offense with a 2-for-3 effort while driving in two and stealing a base.  Petraglia finished 1-for-3 with a run and two RBIs, while Cameron was 1-for-2 with two runs scored.

In the second game of the day, Norwich got on the board in the first inning without a hit, aided by two hit batters by sophomore starting pitcher Marshall Wheeler (Butler, Pa./Butler).  The Golden Tornadoes would get that run back quickly, though, in their half of the inning.

Sophomore Alex Fee (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) led off with a single, McKay followed with a single, and after an out, junior Garrison Wieland (Sharpsville, Pa./Sharpsville) drove both home with a double.  Later in the inning, junior Dylan O'Rourke (Hutchinson, Pa./Yough) drove in Wieland with a sacrifice fly, and then Cameron and sophomore Anthony Wuenstel (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon McMillan) each added an RBI-single, giving Geneva a 5-1 lead after one inning.

More command issues from Wheeler in the top of the second, marked by three straight walks and a wild pitch, enabled Norwich to pick up another run, but Wheeler limited the damage to just one run, and the Golden Tornado offense continued to put up runs in their in its half of the inning.

Fee led off the second with a double, and then three straight singles by McKay, Petraglia and Wieland produced two runs, and junior Dillon Bickerton (Salem, Ohio/Salem) and freshman Jeramie Hill (New Brighton, Pa./New Brighton) picked up RBIs later in the inning to give Geneva a 9-2 lead after two innings.

Norwich was able to knock Wheeler out of the game with three runs in the top of the fourth, but Wieland answered with a home run to left field to lead off the bottom of the inning to push Geneva's lead to 10-5.

Norwich responded with two runs in the top of the fifth inning off sophomore reliever Aaron Erimias (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory), though both runs were unearned due to two Geneva errors to open the frame.

However, once again Geneva answered back in its half of the inning.  McKay led off with another double, Wieland walked, and both came around to score on a Norwich error, making the score 12-7.  Geneva added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, courtesy of another McKay double, and Norwich finished out the scoring with a run in the top of the seventh to make the final score 14-8.

Wieland finished 3-for-3 with a walk, a double, a home run, four runs scored and four RBIs.  McKay also had a big game, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, four runs scored and one RBI.  McKay is now hitting .647 on the season with a 1.641 OPS.  Fee also picked up multiple hits, finishing 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.  Erimias picked up the win, pitching 2.2 innings of relief, giving up just two hits and two unearned runs.

"Today was a better performance by our guys," said Head Coach Alan Sumner.  "We had one bad inning in the first game that cost us that game, but other than that I thought we pitched better, other than some command issues we had at times.  It was good to see our offense come alive today.  We're getting some good production from several of our freshmen, and that's encouraging as well.  There's still a number of things we need to do better, but today was definitely a step in the right direction."

Geneva will be off tomorrow before continuing its play in Florida with a doubleheader on Thursday against Marywood beginning at 10:00 a.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 145 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. Geneva is included on Kiplinger's Personal Finance's "2019 Best College Values" list and has one of the top undergraduate engineering programs in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report. 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.