BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College softball team continues to add victories to its ledger after sweeping Grove City on Wednesday afternoon by scores of 10-2, in five innings, and 3-2.  Geneva has now won 20 of its last 21 games to improve to 24-4 overall, 7-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).  Grove City dropped to 8-12, 3-3 in the PAC.

It was Grove City who actually got on the board first in the top of the first inning of game one against junior starting pitcher Nicole West (Glenwood, Md./McDonogh), scoring twice on a two-out, two-RBI double to give the Wolverines an early 2-0 lead.

The Golden Tornadoes got their offense going in the bottom of the second, with Geneva's three seniors all playing a part in the rally.  Senior Marina Manuppelli (Mars, Pa./Mars) led off with a walk, West followed with a single, and both runners moved up on a wild pitch.  Senior Madison Schultz (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) followed with an RBI-single, and senior Kyleigh Jo Ward (Laceyville, Pa./Wyalusing Valley) drove in the second run on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2-2.

West settled down after her bumpy first inning, and she cruised through the next four innings.  Geneva got her the lead with an RBI-single from Manuppelli in the bottom of the third.

The Golden Tornadoes broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth, with the entire rally happening after the first two batters were retired.  Ward singled and stole second, and she came around to score on an RBI-single from junior Sarah Johnson (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista).  Johnson came around to score on an RBI-single from sophomore Madison Forsythe (Trafford, Pa./Penn-Trafford), and then sophomore Hannah Raygor (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) supplied the big hit of the inning, a two-run home run to center to extend Geneva's lead to 7-2.

The Golden Tornadoes finished the game off in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three times to invoke the mercy rule.  Junior Sidney Young (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) drove in both Manuppelli and West with an RBI-single, and Johnson singled up the middle to score Schultz to end the game, 10-2.

West earned the win, pitching all five innings for the complete-game effort.  She gave up eight hits and two runs while striking out four, moving her record to 11-2. 

Johnson led the offense, finishing 2-for-3 with a walk, a run, two RBIs and a stolen base.  Raygor went 1-for-3 with the home run, two runs and two RBIs.  Manuppelli reached base all three times, going 1-for-1 with two walks, two runs and an RBI, while West scored twice.

Game two proved much tougher for the Golden Tornado offense, as Grove City's pitcher Janessa Dawson seemed to confound the Geneva batters.  Dawson retired the first nine batters before Johnson led off the fourth inning with a single.

Sophomore Haley Smith (Joshua Tree, Cali./Yucca Valley) was in the circle for game two and had to work some magic to keep Grove City off the board early.  The Wolverines loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second, but Smith battled her way out of the jam without allowing a run with a groundball force-out at the plate, a strikeout and a foul popup. 

Smith again found herself in a jam in the top of the fourth when the first batter reached on an error, and the next Wolverine doubled to center, putting runners at second and third with no outs.  This time it was her defense, courtesy of Johnson in centerfield, who came up with the big play to get out of the inning.  Grove City's Maddie Clark hit a sinking liner into the right-center field gap that both runners assumed was going to get down, so they took off running towards home.  Johnson laid out for the liner and made a diving grab.  She then threw to second to record the second out, and the Golden Tornadoes relayed the ball on to third for a triple-play.

Geneva finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, but it took some help from the Grove City defense.  Manuppelli was on first with two outs when Schultz hit a fly ball into right-centerfield.  Grove City's centerfielder came over, and as she reached up to make the catch, the ball deflected off her glove and rolled to the wall.  Manuppelli came all the way around to score, and Schultz ended up at third.  Geneva then added on, with back-to-back RBI-singles later in the inning from Ward and Johnson, pushing the Golden Tornado lead to 3-0.

That appeared to be enough for Smith until she ran into a little trouble in the seventh.  A leadoff walk, a dribbler up the middle, a wild pitch, and a bloop hit with two outs plated two runners for Grove City, slicing the deficit to 3-2.  However, Smith regrouped and finished off the victory with a strikeout to end the game.

Smith earned the win with her complete-game effort, moving her record to 12-2.  She pitched all seven innings and gave up six hits, two runs and three walks, while striking out six.

The Geneva offense managed just four hits in the game, with Johnson going 2-for-3 with an RBI.

"Today was another example of how we need to be at our best every game," said Head Coach Van Zanic.  "We have played very well so far this year, but there is always a team waiting to knock us off.  To be honest, we were probably a little fortunate to come away with two wins today after the way that second game played out."

Geneva is back in action this Saturday when the Golden Tornadoes travel to Waynesburg for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader.


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 has one of the top 100 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. Geneva was founded and is governed by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) and is a founding member of both the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and IACE (International Association for Christian Education).