AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Senior Haley Smith pitched a gem in the first day of the game for the Geneva College softball team on Tuesday, enabling the Golden Tornadoes to enter the win column with a 1-0 victory over Monmouth in which Smith gave up just one hit in the complete-game shutout. Geneva fell to Fontbonne, 5-1, in the second game of the day. The Golden Tornadoes are now 1-3.
Smith got the ball in the circle against Monmouth for her first start of the year, and she did not disappoint. She retired the first seven batters she faced before issuing a one-out walk in the bottom of the third inning. In the top of the inning, Geneva used a two-out double from senior Sarah Johnson, followed by a two-out RBI-single from senior Madison Forsythe, to score what proved to be the only run of the game.
Smith retired the next ten batters after the one-out walk in the third before Monmouth hit a chopper over the third baseman's head for the only hit of the day for the Scots. Smith closed out the sixth by retiring the next hitter, and then she set down the Scots in order in the bottom of the seventh to secure the 1-0 victory for Geneva.
Smith gave up just one hit and one walk, while striking out five, in her dominant performance. Johnson and senior Peri Ceasri each finished with two hits.
Freshman Sophia Tvaroch took the ball in game two against Fontbonne, and she got through the first two innings without allowing a run. Geneva's offense, though, continued it's early-season struggles as the Golden Tornadoes couldn't get much going.
The Griffins broke through against Tvaroch in the third inning with three runs, adding two more runs in the fourth. Freshman Lexi Zanic drove in Geneva's only run in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out single, but the Golden Tornadoes could not generate anything else offensively and fell 5-1.
The offense managed just five hits, two from Ceasri, including a double. Freshman McKenzie Rapp did give Geneva three innings of shutout relief.
The team will enjoy an off day tomorrow in Florida before resuming action on Thursday with games against Penn State Behrend and Thomas College.
Through purposeful learning in a community reflecting the full spectrum of God's kingdom, a Geneva College experience inspires students to discover a faith-life calling in service to God and neighbor. Offering 195+ traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality and affordability. 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 the International Association for Christian Education (IACE).
