BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College baseball team hosted Grove City on Thursday afternoon for the last home doubleheader of the season, and the Wolverines came away with both games by scores of 3-1 and 11-5.  Grove City improved to 25-8, 21-5 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva dropped to 11-22, 6-20 in the PAC.

Thursday's games represented the final home games for Geneva's senior class of Dylan O'Rourke (Hutchinson, Pa./Yough), Tyler Seliga (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon) and Garrison Wieland (Sharpsville, Pa./Sharpsville), and the Golden Tornadoes knew they would have their hands full facing two of the top pitchers in the conference.

Sophomore Timothy Munz (Euclid, Ohio/Lake Catholic) took the mound in game one, a seven-inning affair, and things started rather poorly.  The leadoff hitter, Grove City's Jesse Clary, homered to left on the third pitch of the game to give the Wolverines the early lead, and the following batter walked.  However, Munz settled down, getting a double play and a popup to end the inning. 

In fact, Munz would go on to retire seven straight batters after the walk, and 12 of the next 14 Wolverines.  Geneva was facing Grove City's ace Tate Ostrowski, though, so the Golden Tornadoes knew that runs would be tough to come by.  A single from Wieland in the second inning was the only baserunner Geneva managed through the first five innings.

Grove City's offense put together a two-out rally in the top of the sixth to add to its lead, knocking Munz out of the game in the process, to give the Wolverines a 3-0 lead.

Geneva's offense stirred to life in the bottom of the seventh off Ostrowski.  Wieland hit a one-out double, and three batters later freshman David Toruno (Menifee, Cal./Paloma Valley) drove Wieland home with a two-out single.  The Golden Tornadoes looked to have a chance for more as Ostrowski appeared to be weakening, but with the tying runners on base, junior Alex Fee (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) hit one hard right at the second baseman, and the game ended on a lineout, 3-1.

Munz picked up the loss, pitching 5.2 inning while giving up six hits and three runs.  Geneva managed just five hits, with Wieland finishing 2-for-3 with a double and the lone Golden Tornado run.

Sophomore Austin Smith (Chardon, Ohio/Chardon) took the ball in game two, and he retired the first six batters he faced.  Geneva got on the board in the bottom of the first inning when sophomore Gabriel Morales (Homestead, Fla./South Dade) led off with a walk, and an error and a groundout brought him around to score to give Geneva an early 1-0 lead, without the benefit of a hit.

Disaster struck in the third, though.  The first six Grove City batters reached base on three hits, two errors and a walk, and things quickly unraveled.  By the time the third out was recorded, the Wolverines had scored nine runs on seven hits, three errors and a walk.  Seven of the runs were unearned due to the three Golden Tornado errors.

Geneva didn't manage its first hit until Toruno led off the top of the fifth with a double down the left field line.  The Golden Tornadoes came up empty in the fifth, but Geneva scored twice in each of the sixth and seventh innings to pull within 9-5.

In the sixth, freshmen Abel Riverol (Homestead Fla./Keys Gate Charter) and Cameron Tyson (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) delivered back-to-back two-out RBI-singles.  In the seventh, Morales came through with a two-run double to bring Geneva within four.   The Golden Tornadoes were able to gain some ground because of the work of O'Rourke, who pitched 4.1 innings of scoreless relief.

However, Grove City scored twice in the eighth off junior Elijah Small (Connellsville, Pa./Connellsville Area), with another Geneva error contributing to the Wolverine offense, and Grove City closed out the win in game two, 11-5.

Smith took the loss, pitching 2.2 innings and giving up seven hits and nine runs, though just two were earned.

Morales had a good game at the plate, going 1-for-2 with three walks, two runs and two RBIs.  Riverol finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, while freshman Tim Hermansen (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor) went 1-for-3 with two runs scored.

Geneva finishes up its season tomorrow when it travels to Grove City to complete the four-game series, with the doubleheader scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m., weather permitting.


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).