BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College baseball team was its own worst enemy on Monday afternoon in a single home game against the Saint Vincent Bearcats, the second-place team in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC). Despite not giving up a hit through the first seven innings, Geneva trailed 7-3, and the Bearcats eventually prevailed 9-5. Saint Vincent improved to 21-9, 17-3 in the PAC, while Geneva dropped to 9-24, 5-15 in the PAC.
Freshman Derek Sears (Sherman, N.Y./Sherman) got his first start of the season, and he put together a very good outing. The offense got him a couple runs in the first when senior Dillon Bickerton (Salem, Ohio/Salem) drove home two with a single. Geneva had a chance for more after loading the bases with just one out, but the Golden Tornadoes couldn't add to their lead.
Saint Vincent took advantage of two walks and an error to score an unearned run in the second. Geneva got that run back in the third when Bickerton scored on a wild pitch.
Things fell apart in the sixth inning for the Golden Tornadoes. Four walks and four errors led to six unearned runs for the Bearcats, without the aid of a hit. It wasn't until the top of the eighth that a roller through the right side got Saint Vincent its first hit of the game.
Geneva tried to rally in the bottom of the eighth. Freshman Cael Brandt (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) tripled with one out, and he came around to score on a double from senior Alex Fee (New Castle, Pa./New Castle). Later in the inning, sophomore David Toruno (Menifee, Calif./Paloma Valley) came home on a wild pitch to pull the Golden Tornadoes within 7-5.
However, Saint Vincent added two insurance runs in the ninth and held on to win 9-5.
Geneva finished the game with 11 hits, compared to just four for the Bearcats, with three of Saint Vincent's hits coming in the ninth inning. Fee, Bickerton, Brandt and sophomore Tim Hermansen (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor) each had two hits to lead the offense.
Geneva is back in action tomorrow night when the Golden Tornadoes travel to Chatham to finish their suspended game from April 11 that Geneva was leading 1-0 in the third inning when the rains came. The resumption of that game will begin at 7:30 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).
