BETHANY, W.Va. – The Geneva College baseball team had a rough road trip to Bethany College on Thursday afternoon, dropping both games of the doubleheader by scores of 16-2 and 8-6.  Bethany improved to 4-6 overall, 3-5 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva dropped to 4-5 overall, 4-4 in the PAC.

Geneva actually struck first in the initial game of the day, scoring once in the top of the second when senior Tyler Seliga (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon) scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of junior Adrian Tapia (Homestead, Fla./Keys Gate Charter).

Bethany answered right back in the bottom of the inning off senior starter Dylan O'Rourke (Hutchinson, Pa./Yough), scoring three times, the big hit a two-run home run off the bat of Bethany's Kevin Roach.

The Bison added a run in the third, and then they put the game away with three runs in the fourth and five more in the fifth, knocking O'Rourke out of the game in the process.  Bethany then finished off the 16-2 victory with four more runs in the bottom of the sixth.

O'Rourke took the loss, going 3.2 innings while giving up nine hits and seven runs (five earned).  Tapia finished 2-for-3, while Seliga went 1-for-2 with a run and an RBI.

In game two, sophomore Gabriel Morales (Homestead, Fla./South Dade) singled, stole second, and came around to score on a single from sophomore Abram King (Washington, Pa./Trinity), giving the Golden Tornadoes an early lead in the first inning.

Bethany responded in the bottom of the second with four runs off Geneva junior starter Elijah Small (Connellsville, Pa./Connellsville Area), courtesy of two two-run home runs, one coming from Bethany's Roach, his second of the day.

King had another RBI-single in the top of the third, but the Bison extended its lead with two more runs in the bottom of the inning and one more in the fourth, taking a 7-2 lead.

Geneva pulled one back in the top of the fifth, and added two more in the top of the sixth when King and sophomore Alex McKay (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) both got on to open the inning and each came around to score on sacrifice flies, pulling the Golden Tornadoes to within 7-5.  A leadoff double by King in the top of the eighth led to another run, cutting the deficit to 7-6.

Bethany added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 8-6, and the Golden Tornadoes couldn't finish the comeback in the ninth, falling 8-6.

Small picked up the loss, pitching 3.0 innings and giving up six hits and six runs (five earned).  King led the offense with a 3-for-4 effort, including two runs and two RBIs.  Freshman David Toruno (Menifee, Cali./Paloma Valley) went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while junior Alex Fee (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) also collected two hits.

"Bethany has a pretty good offense, and our pitching and defense wasn't good enough today to limit their offense," said Head Coach Alan Sumner.  "We had a chance to come back in the second game, but we let some chances get away from us late, and we came up just a little short.  It's a long season, so we'll look forward to trying to bounce back on Saturday."

Bethany will make the trip to Beaver Falls on Saturday as the two teams complete the four-game series with two games at Geneva.  Only the first game, which is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m., will count in the conference standings.


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.