PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Geneva College baseball team picked up a victory in its series-opener at Chatham on Friday night, scoring three runs late to break a tie and knock off the Cougars, 7-4. Geneva improved to 7-16 overall, 3-7 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).
Geneva jumped out to an early lead to provide freshman starter Zach Lemansky (South Park, Pa./South Park) some early run support. The Golden Tornadoes scored twice in the first on a sacrifice fly from freshman Zack Sackett (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) and an RBI-single from senior Adrian Tapia (Homestead, Fla./Keys Gate Charter). Geneva added two more in the second when freshman Cael Brandt (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) drove home one runner with a single, and then Brandt later came around to score on a wild pitch, giving the Golden Tornadoes a 4-0 lead.
Lemansky worked around some traffic in the first three innings, with the freshman using the strikeout to keep the Cougars off the board. However, an error in the fourth allowed Chatham to score three runs, and then the Cougars tied up the game in the fifth with a two-out solo home run.
Junior Jarrett Orbin (New Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) came on in relief to start the sixth, and he put together another strong outing for the Golden Tornadoes.
The Geneva offense stirred back to life in the seventh. Junior Gabriel Morales (Homestead, Fla/South Dade) drove home Brandt, who had doubled, on a single with two outs, and then two batters later, senior Dillon Bickerton (Salem, Ohio/Salem) came through with a big two-run single to extend the Geneva lead to 7-4.
That was plenty of support for Orbin, who closed out the game with four scoreless innings, giving up just four hits, while striking out four batters, to earn his third victory of the season.
Morales and Brandt led the offense. Both finished with the same line, going 2-for-4 at the plate with a double, two runs scored and one RBI.
Geneva was originally scheduled to host Chatham on Saturday for the final two games of the series, but those games have been pushed to Monday due to rain and cold in the forecast for Saturday. The start time of the doubleheader on Monday is 2:00 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).
