ABERDEEN, Md. – The Geneva College baseball team opened its season on Saturday with a doubleheader against Valley Forge, played at the Ripken Complex in Aberdeen, Maryland. The Golden Tornadoes prevailed in a high-scoring first game, 15-12, and then Geneva saw senior Dillon Bickerton (Salem, Ohio/Salem) come through with a walk-off double in the second game, sending Geneva to a 6-5 victory and a sweep of the Patriots.
The first game presented fans with a lot of offense. Valley Forge took advantage of two Geneva errors in the bottom of the first inning to score four runs off junior starter Timothy Munz (Euclid, Ohio/Lake Catholic).
The Geneva offense doubled that amount in the top of the second, scoring eight times in response. Senior Alex Fee (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) had a 2-RBI double early in the inning, and then freshman Zack Sackett (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) came through with a three-run home run to cap off the inning.
Valley Forge scored twice more in the bottom of the second to pull within 8-6. The Golden Tornadoes answered right back in the top of the third, with Sackett coming up big again with a 2-RBI double, giving Geneva an 11-6 lead.
However, Valley Forge kept responding with runs, answering with three runs of its own in the bottom of the third to pull within 11-9.
Geneva added a run in the top of the fourth, and then sophomore Joshua Kearns (Akron, Ohio/Woodridge) came in to relieve Munz in the bottom of the inning and kept the Patriots in check, pitching two scoreless innings.
The Golden Tornadoes added three more runs in the top of the sixth, with sophomore David Toruno (Menifee, Calif./Paloma Valley) providing an RBI-triple. Valley Forge added a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh, but Geneva was able to hold on for the 15-12 win.
Kearns earned the win with his two shutout innings. Sackett led the offense, going 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, a home run, a hit-by-pitch, a stolen base, a run and five RBIs. Toruno and Fee each finished 3-for-5 with three runs and two RBIs. Junior Gabriel Morales (Homestead, Fla./South Dade) also went 3-for-5, adding two runs and two RBIs, while sophomore Tim Hermansen (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor) finished 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs.
As happened in the first game, Valley Forge again jumped out to an early lead in game two. The Patriots scored twice in the first and once in the second to take a 3-0 lead against sophomore starter Giovani Noa (Homestead, Fla./South Dade).
The Geneva offense responded in the bottom of the second with four runs. Sophomore Ray Knallay (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) opened the inning with a home run, while Hermansen added a 2-RBI single later in the inning.
The Patriots retook the lead in the top of the fifth with two runs off freshman reliever Alex Tatusko (Independence, Ky./Bishop Brossart), but the Golden Tornadoes pulled even at 5-5 in the bottom of the inning on a 2-out RBI-single from Knallay.
Freshman reliever Jeff Hawkins (Baltimore, Md./Mt. St. Joseph) came in to start the sixth, and the freshman was excellent in his collegiate debut. He retired all six batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings, including three strikeouts, which set the stage for Bickerton's heroics in the bottom of the seventh.
Morales opened the inning with a single. Sackett advanced him to second with a sacrifice bunt, and after Knallay was intentionally walked, Bickerton laced a ball into the right-centerfield gap, scoring Morales for the winning run.
Hawkins earned the win with his two perfect innings, with Geneva pitching holding Valley Forge to just four hits in the second game. Knallay led the offense, going 2-for-3 with a walk, a home run, a run scored and two RBIs. Hermansen also drove in two runs for the Golden Tornadoes, while Bickerton finished 2-for-4 with the game-winning double.
Geneva returns home Saturday and then will fly down to Florida on Monday to begin Spring Break. The Golden Tornadoes play seven games during the break, beginning with a doubleheader on Tuesday against Marywood beginning at 12:30 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 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).
