Beaver Falls, PA – Geneva College head baseball coach Alan Sumner summed up the day with one common phrase – "You don't always get what you want, but you get what you need." If Coach Sumner and the Golden Tornadoes had their choice, they would have clearly chosen to win game one of Saturday's doubleheader against Bethany with that game counting toward the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) standings. Unfortunately, Geneva dropped game one to the Bison 7-0 before handling things in game two by the count of 9-1.
Geneva dropped all three conference games this weekend to the Bison to fall to 4-5 in conference play, while Bethany's three victories pulled them even with the Golden Tornadoes in the PAC standings at 4-5. Geneva moved to 5-6 overall with the split, while Bethany pushed its overall mark to 5-7.
The Golden Tornadoes managed just three base hits in game one, two of which came off the bat of David Toruno (Menifee, CA). The Bison offense got churning early with three runs in the second inning. Bethany was able to keep Geneva's offense grounded before posting a single run in the fifth and then putting the game away with another three-spot in the ninth inning.
Geneva's Marshall Wheeler (Butler, PA) took the loss despite a solid seven inning effort. Wheeler scattered nine hits and allowed four earned runs with four strikeouts. Joshua Kearns (Akron, OH) gave up four hits and three unearned runs in his two innings of work to close out the game.
Game two quickly became a different offensive story for the Golden Tornadoes with a pair of runs in each of the first two innings. A wild pitch plated Tyler Seliga (Belle Vernon, PA), and Garrison Wieland's (Sharpsville, PA) RBI ground out extended the lead. In the second inning, Jeramie Hill (New Brighton, PA) laced an RBI single and then scored himself on a wild pitch to give Geneva an early 4-0 lead.
Three more tallies in the fourth inning gave Geneva a 7-0 lead highlighted by an RBI single off the bat of Gabriel Morales (Homestead, FL) and a two-run base hit from Seliga. Bethany scored its lone run in the sixth before Geneva's final two runs were plated on an RBI double from Donald Dungee (Virginia Beach, VA) and a run scoring single from Jesen Montanez (Homestead, FL).
While Geneva's offense was busy lighting up the scoreboard, sophomore hurler Timothy Munz (Euclid, OH) was busy keeping the Bison bats quiet. Munz hurled a seven-inning complete game and allowed just three hits and struck out eight to earn his first victory of the season.
Geneva's offense finished the night cap with 11 hits including multiple hit efforts from Seliga and Hill. "We really needed to get this win in game two," said Sumner. "We wanted to build some confidence going into our series with what is obviously a very good W & J team next weekend. It was important to get some bats going in game two."
The Golden Tornadoes are scheduled to travel to Washington & Jefferson on Thursday before the President's return the favor and head to Beaver Falls for a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
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.
