CLERMONT, Fla. – The Geneva College softball team got its season off to a start on Saturday down in Florida as the Golden Tornadoes began their Spring Break, and after a good start to the day that saw Geneva defeat Loras 10-5, defensive errors and an inability to pick up timely hits proved costly against D'Youville as Geneva lost 3-2 to split the day's games.

In the first game of the day against Loras, junior Marina Manuppelli (Mars, Pa./Mars) got Geneva on the board in the top of the first inning with an RBI-double, and she came around to score on a single by sophomore Nicole West (Glenwood, Md./McDonogh), giving the Golden Tornadoes an early 2-0 lead.

Freshman Haley Smith (Joshua Tree, Cali./Yucca Valley) got the start in the circle for Geneva, and after a scoreless first inning, Smith gave up a two-out run in the bottom of the second inning as she momentarily lost command, walking three straight Loras batters to force in a run.  Smith was able to get out of the jam, though, without further damage.

Senior April Lude (Canfield, Ohio/Western Reserve) led off the top of the third with a single, and Manuppelli followed with walk to give Geneva two base runners, and that start led to a big inning for the Golden Tornadoes.  Freshman Danielle Goodman (Glen Burnie, Md./Calvary Baptist) drove in a run with a single, sophomore Madison Smith (Joshua Tree, Cali./Yucca Valley), Haley's older sister, drove in two with a double, and sophomore Sarah Johnson (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) drove in a fourth run with a single to extend Geneva's lead to 6-1.

Geneva added two more runs in the top of the fifth courtesy of two Loras errors.  Loras responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth and two more in the bottom of the sixth to close the deficit to 8-4, but Geneva put the game away with two runs in the top of the seventh on RBIs from freshman Hannah Raygor (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) and Lude to make it 10-4.  Loras added one run in the bottom of the seventh to finish out the scoring, 10-5.

Haley Smith pitched five innings and gave up just one earned run to pick up her first victory.  Johnson led the offense with a 3-for-3 effort, and she stole three bases, scored twice and drove in a run.  Madison Smith went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, Manuppelli finished 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while West also finished with two hits.  Raygor added two RBIs.

West took the circle in the second game of the day against D'Youville, and her defense let her down in the first inning as an error led to two unearned runs.  The defense continued to struggle, but West was able to pitch around another error in the second and two more errors in the third.

Geneva had a golden opportunity in the bottom of the fourth as Lude led off with a walk and Manuppelli and West followed with singles to load the bases with no outs.  However, a strikeout, line out and fly out ended the threat without Geneva scoring.

Lude finally got Geneva on the board in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI-groundout, but D'Youville picked up what would prove to be an important insurance run in the top of the seventh on a two-out base hit.  The Golden Tornadoes tried to rally with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.  Johnson doubled and was brought home on a hit by Goodman, pulling Geneva to within 3-2, but Lude struck out to end the game with the tying run on base.

West was the hard-luck loser, pitching five innings and giving up just the two unearned runs in the first inning.  Johnson was key again offensively, going 3-for-3, as the opposition all day couldn't keep her off the bases.  She was factor in both of Geneva's runs.  No one else had more than a hit for the Golden Tornadoes.

"Overall, it was just nice to be back outside and playing again, even though it was a cold and windy day," said Head Coach Van Zanic.  "Haley obviously gave us a good effort in the first game, and we got offensive contributions from a number of people.  In the second game, we were just so poor defensively.  We have to get a better defensive effort if we expect to beat anyone.  Despite all that, we still had numerous chances to win that game and couldn't come up with the hits offensively.  The wind didn't help either, as Marina and April both hit balls that probably are home runs on normal Florida evenings, but the wind knocked them down.  So it was a mixed bag today, but all things considered, for it being our first day of the season, I thought there were a lot of positives to be encouraged about as we look ahead to the rest of the week."

Geneva will be back in action on Monday in Florida with a game against Penn State Dubois at 1:30 p.m. followed by game against Marian at 3:40 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 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.