FORT PIERCE, Fla. – The Geneva College baseball team split a pair of games with Marywood on Thursday down in Florida, with each team winning in walk-off fashion.  In the first game, Marywood pulled out a 10-9 victory, while Geneva won the second game, 5-4.  The Golden Tornadoes are now 4-5 on the season, while Marywood stands at 5-4.

In game one, Geneva got on the board in the top of the first inning after sophomore Alex Fee (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) and juniors Tyler Seliga (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon) and Garrison Wieland (Sharpsville, Pa./Sharpsville) each singled to load the bases with one out, and Fee and Seliga came around to score on an error by Marywood, giving Geneva an early 2-0 lead.

However, Geneva's defense gave those runs right back after the first two Marywood batters got on by errors, and both runners came around to score to even the game at 2-2.

Marywood took its first lead of the game, 5-2, with three runs in the bottom of the second inning against junior starting pitcher Dylan O'Rourke (Hutchinson, Pa./Yough), though O'Rourke was again let down by his defense as a two-out error enabled the inning to continue, allowing the Pacers to score all three of their runs. 

Geneva answered in the top of the third, as freshman Jarrett Orbin (New Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) drove in two with a two-out single, pulling the Golden Tornadoes to within 5-4.  Geneva then retook the lead in the top of the fourth with two more runs on RBIs from sophomore Marshall Wheeler (Butler, Pa./Butler) and freshman Gabriel Morales (Homestead, Fla./South Dade), giving the Golden Tornadoes a 6-5 advantage.

However, as was the case all game, Marywood responded in the bottom of the inning, scoring three times and knocking O'Rourke out of the game in the process, giving the Pacers an 8-6 lead.

Geneva would rally again, though, scoring three times in the top of the sixth inning, with Orbin coming up with the big hit, a two-out double that drove in two runs to give the Golden Tornadoes the lead back, 9-8.

Unfortunately, Marywood responded one last time to pick up the victory.  The Pacers pushed a run across in the bottom the sixth to tie the game, and then the Pacers scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh to take the first game, 10-9.

Sophomore Angel Padron (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Pembroke Pines Charter) picked up the loss in relief, going 2.1 innings while giving up two hits, three walks and two runs.  Orbin led the offense with a 2-for-4 effort, while driving in four runs.  Freshman Alex McKay (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) also picked up two hits, going 2-for-5 with a stolen base and three runs scored, while Morales finished 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.

In the second game of the day, freshman Austin Petraglia (Connellsville, Pa./Connellsville) got the start on the mound, and he got off to a bit of a rough start in the first inning.  Marywood opened the game with three straight hits, and all three batters eventually came around to score to put Geneva in an early 3-0 deficit.  Petraglia would settle down from there, though.

Fee opened the bottom of the first inning with a walk, and after stealing second base, he came around to score on two groundouts to get Geneva on the board.

The Golden Tornadoes took the lead in the bottom of the third.  Freshman Jeramie Hill (New Brighton, Pa./New Brighton) opened the inning with a double and came around to score on an RBI-single from Fee.  Then, with two outs, freshman Cameron Bender (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) gave Geneva the lead with a double that drove in two runners, 4-3.

Neither team did any damage over the next three innings.  In fact, Petraglia gave up only three hits in five innings after the first inning, putting Geneva in position for the win.  However, each team's defense helped the other team score in the seventh.

In the top of the seventh, Marywood had two outs and one on when a single put runners at first and third, and then a dropped pop-up enabled the Pacers to tie the game, 4-4, before Petraglia retired the final batter.

Marywood returned the favor, though, in the bottom of the inning.  Sophomore Anthony Wuenstel (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon McMillan) opened the inning with a walk, and Seliga came in to pinch-run for Wuenstel.  With two outs, McKay singled to move Seliga over to third.  Then junior Dillon Bickerton (Salem, Ohio/Salem) hit a fly to centerfield that was dropped, allowing Seliga to score the winning run, 5-4.

Petraglia was the key in the game, as the freshman pitched a complete game, giving up eight hits and four runs, three earned, while striking out four.  McKay and Hill each had two hits and scored a run.  Fee went 1-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and a stolen base, while Bender drove in two runs.

"It was important to come back and get the second game," said Head Coach Alan Sumner.  "We felt like we let the first game get away from us, and we almost did in the second game as well.  We caught a break late, though, and took advantage.  Austin was really good on the mound after the first inning, and we again got contributions from a number of guys offensively today."

Geneva is scheduled to play North Central tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m., which is likely to be the Golden Tornadoes' last game in Florida after the College of Mount Saint Vincent, who Geneva was scheduled to play on Saturday, decided not to make the trip to Florida.


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.