FORT PIERCE, Fla. – The Geneva College baseball team traveled down to Florida on Monday to play seven games over Spring Break, and after having their original flight diverted due to weather, the Golden Tornadoes didn't get to their hotels until after 3:00 a.m. So, Geneva didn't have a lot of rest as it took on Marywood in a doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon, and the Golden Tornadoes dropped both games by scores of 6-3 and 15-5. Geneva's record now stands at 2-2.
In the first game, sophomore Giovani Noa (Homestead, Fla./South Dade) got the start, and he struck all three Marywood batters out in the first inning.
Noa ran into trouble in the second, with the first three runners reaching base on two walks and a hit to load the bases with no outs. All three runners came around to score, and then a two-out error enabled two more runners to cross the plate, putting the Golden Tornadoes in an early 5-0 hole.
The Golden Tornadoes got on the board in the bottom of the third, with junior Gabriel Morales (Homestead, Fla./South Dade) providing an RBI-double and senior Dillon Bickerton (Salem, Ohio/Salem) adding an RBI-single to pull Geneva within three.
Noa settled down and got through the next two innings without further damage before freshman Derek Sears (Sherman, N.Y./Sherman) came in to relieve Noa to start the fifth. Bickerton provided an RBI-double in the bottom of the fifth to close within two, 5-3.
However, that was as close as the Golden Tornadoes would get. Marywood added an insurance run in the top of seventh, courtesy another Geneva error, and the Pacers closed out the bottom of the seventh for the 6-3 victory.
Noa picked up the loss, pitching four innings while giving up four hits, five runs (three earned), five walks and four strikeouts. Morales led the offense with a 2-for-4 effort with two runs, two steals, a double and an RBI, while Bickerton also went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.
Geneva took its only lead of the day in the top of the first inning of game two, with an RBI-double from Bickerton giving the Golden Tornadoes an early 1-0 advantage.
Freshman Alex Tatusko (Independence, Ky./Bishop Brossart) got the start for Geneva in the second game, and the Pacers struck for two runs with two outs in the bottom of the inning.
In the second inning, Marywood had two runners on with two outs when things fell apart. The Golden Tornadoes committed three errors before finally getting the final out, and by that time Marywood had plated seven runners, on only three hits, to blow the game open, 9-1.
Marywood gave some of those runs back in top of the third, committing two errors to allow Geneva to scored three times.
The Pacers put the game away in the bottom of the inning, though, scoring six more times to take a 15-4 lead. Geneva added one run in the top of the fourth to close out the scoring.
Tatusko took the loss, giving up nine runs in 1.2 innings, with only two of those runs earned. The offense managed just three hits.
Geneva will hope to get a better night's sleep on Tuesday night as the team prepares to play a doubleheader on Wednesday against Norwich beginning at 11:00 a.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).
