BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College baseball team pulled a win out of the fire against Thiel on Saturday afternoon.  The day started with the two teams resuming their suspended game from Wednesday, which Thiel won 12-6.  In the first game of the scheduled doubleheader, though, a Golden Tornado two-out, three-run rally in the ninth sent the game to extra innings, and Geneva took advantage of a Tomcat error to plate the winning run in the 12^th inning, 11-10.  Because of how long the first game went, the two teams didn't have enough time before it got too dark to play at least five innings in the second game, so that game doesn't count and goes down as a no contest.  Geneva improved to 2-1 overall, 2-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Thiel fell to 1-2, 1-2 in the PAC.

Thiel opened the game with three runs as the Tomcats got to freshman starting pitcher Austin Smith (Chardon, Ohio/Chardon) early.  Geneva responded right away, though, taking advantage of a lack of control from Tomcat starter Trey Williams.  The Golden Tornadoes scored six times in the inning, with the help of four walks and an error, knocking Williams out.  Sophomore Gabriel Morales (Homestead, Fla./South Dade) had a key two-RBI single in the inning.

Geneva's offense went cold, though, over the next several innings.  Thiel steadily chipped away at the lead, scoring twice in the third, while adding three runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth to take a 9-6 lead.  Each team added a run over the next two innings, leaving the score 10-7 heading into the bottom of the ninth.

Thiel opened the door by walking the first two Geneva batters, and the Golden Tornadoes took advantage when sophomores Alex McKay (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) and Abram King (Washington, Pa./Trinity) each had two-out hits, with McKay driving in one and King two to tie the score at 10-10.  The Golden Tornadoes had a chance to win the game, but they left the bases loaded.

Neither team could score in the next two innings, as senior pitcher Dylan O'Rourke (Hutchinson, Pa./Yough) was huge in relief for Geneva.  O'Rourke again kept Thiel off the board in the top of the 12^th, and Geneva took advantage of a Tomcat error to score the winning run.  The Golden Tornadoes loaded the bases with one out.  McKay hit a grounder to third, and the Tomcats threw home to get the runner at the plate, but the Thiel catcher threw wildly to first in attempt to get a double play, and sophomore Jeramie Hill (New Brighton, Pa./New Brighton) scored the winning run from second to end the game in dramatic fashion, 11-10.

O'Rourke, just three days after getting roughed up by the Tomcats in his start on Wednesday, was dynamite in relief.  He earned the win by pitching 6.1 innings while giving up just two hits and one unearned run.  McKay and junior Alex Fee (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) led the offense with three hits apiece, while Morales, King and freshman Donald Dungee (Virginia Beach, Va./Landstown) each drove in two runs.

"What can you say about these guys," said Head Coach Alan Sumner.  "It wasn't always pretty at times, but our guys just never gave up, even down to the last out.  Thiel is always a really strong program, so to open the season by taking two of three games against them is really solid.  We have a lot of young guys who have stepped up for us this week, so that's encouraging, but we know there are a lot of areas we need to improve on going forward."

Geneva faces Waynesburg this week in a four-game series, starting with two home games on Friday beginning 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 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.