BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College softball team finally got a chance to open Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play on Thursday afternoon, the last team in the PAC to play a conference game. The Golden Tornadoes hosted Westminster, and both games were close through five innings before the Titans pulled away late, winning by scores of 10-2 and 9-2. Geneva's record is now 10-8 overall, 0-2 in the PAC, while Westminster has an impressive 17-2 record, 4-0 in the PAC.
Senior Nicole West (Glenwood, Md./McDonogh) got the start in the first game, and she retired the first nine batters she faced. Geneva got one run in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly from sophomore Julia Hart (Prospect, Pa./Slippery Rock).
Westminster got its offense going in the fourth, scoring twice to take a 2-1 lead, which is where things stayed heading into the sixth. Things got away from Geneva late, though, with the Titans scoring eight runs over the final two innings to pull away for a 10-2 victory.
Sophomore Elishea Reed (Lanse, Pa./West Branch) led the offense with two hits and a run scored.
The second game followed an extremely similar script. Junior Haley Smith (Joshua Tree, Calif./Yucca Valley) got the start, and once again Geneva got its first two batters to second and third without an out, and this time it was West who delivered a sacrifice fly to get Geneva on the board first.
Westminster answered with two runs in the second and one run in the third, but an RBI-double by senior Sidney Young (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) pulled the Golden Tornadoes within one, but Geneva missed out on a great chance for more runs.
A two-out error in the sixth allowed things to unravel for the Golden Tornadoes, with Westminster scoring four unearned run to take command, and the Titans added two more runs in the seventh for a 9-2 victory.
Reed again led the offense with two of Geneva's six hits.
Geneva is next scheduled to play a home doubleheader with Bethany on Saturday, 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).
