BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College baseball team looked like it was headed for two frustrating losses on Saturday in a doubleheader with Franciscan on Senior Day, but the Golden Tornadoes rallied in the ninth inning of game two for a comeback victory, earning a split on the day. Geneva lost game one, 7-4, before coming up with a walk-off winner in game two, 5-4. Geneva's record is now 10-27, 6-18 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).
The Golden Tornadoes recognized two seniors, Dillon Bickerton (Salem, Ohio/Salem) and Hunter Forney (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim), prior to the game, along with junior Gabriel Morales (Homestead, Fla./South Dade), who is not planning to play his senior year.
Junior Timothy Munz (Euclid, Ohio/Lake Catholic) got the start in game one, and Bickerton provided Geneva with the first run of the game in the bottom of the first on an RBI-single.
Munz retired the first five batters before he ran into trouble in the second inning. After Munz retired the first two Barons of the inning, two singles followed by a home run gave Franciscan the lead, 3-1.
The Barons continued to find good contact in the third inning, doubling their lead with three more runs to take a 6-1 advantage.
Sophomore Giovani Noa (Homestead, Fla./South Dade) relieved Munz in the fourth inning and got Geneva out of a jam, and Noa provided over three innings of strong relief to give the Golden Tornadoes a chance.
Sophomore Jackson Hall (New Brighton, Pa./New Brighton) scored a run in the fourth on a wild pitch, and then Hall doubled home two runners in the fifth to pull Geneva within 6-4. That was as close as the Golden Tornadoes would get, though. Franciscan added an insurance run in the sixth and won the seven-inning game, 7-4.
Morales and Hall led the offense with two hits apiece, while Noa went 3.2 innings in relief, giving up just three hits and one run.
Game two was shaping up to be one of Geneva's most frustrating games of the season, with the Golden Tornadoes getting runners on base in almost every inning but unable to come up with the key hit, several times hitting line drives that turned into outs, or even double plays.
Freshman Derek Sears (Sherman, N.Y./Sherman) got the start in game two, and Franciscan bunched together its few hits in the game well. The Barons got two hits in the second, which led to a run, and then a double and a home run in the third gave Franciscan a 3-0 lead.
Geneva had at least one runner on base in each of the first six innings. The Golden Tornadoes finally got on the board in the fourth on a two-out RBI-double from freshman Connor O'Brien (Swanton, Md./Calvary Christian), but the inning could have been even bigger had senior Adrian Tapia (Homestead, Fla./Keys Gate Charter) not had tough luck earlier in the inning when his hard-hit line drive with two runners on was caught by the leaping Franciscan shortstop, who turned it into a double play.
Geneva got another strong relief outing in game two, this one from freshman Jeff Hawkins (Severn, Md./Mount Saint Joseph). Hawkins came in to relieve Sears to start the fourth, and Hawkins kept the Golden Tornadoes in the game by giving up just one unearned run, in the fifth, over the final six innings.
The most frustrating inning for the Golden Tornadoes was the bottom of the sixth when Geneva loaded the bases with no outs but failed to score when the next two batters popped up and grounded into a double play.
Going into the ninth inning Geneva had left 14 runners on base and had outhit Franciscan 13-5, but still trailed 4-1. It also didn't look good when the Barons brought their ace in to try to close the game out.
However, Morales led off with a single, followed by a single from freshman Zack Sackett (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) and a walk by Bickerton to load the bases again with no outs. Hall popped out, but sophomore Tim Hermansen (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor) followed with a single that drove home two runners, pulling Geneva within one run and leaving runners at first and third with one out. Forney followed with a ground ball that looked like a potential double-play ball, but Forney beat out the relay throw, allowing the tying runner to score.
Junior Jarrett Orbin (New Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) pinch ran for Forney at first with two outs. Orbin stole second base to get into scoring position, and then senior Alex Fee (New Castle, Pa./New Castle), who is planning to return for another season, lined a single to center, and Orbin came around to barely beat the throw at the plate, giving Geneva the dramatic 5-4 walk-off victory.
Hawkins earned the win, his fourth of the season, by pitching the final six innings while giving up just one hit and one unearned run.
Geneva outhit Franciscan 17-5 in the game. Sackett, Hermansen and Fee each finished with three hits, while O'Brien and sophomore David Toruno (Menifee, Calif./Paloma Valley) each added two hits.
Geneva will wrap up its season next week with the final series of the season against Bethany. The Golden Tornadoes will travel to Bethany on Thursday for a single game, and then Geneva will host the Bison for a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 1:00 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).
