BETHANY, W.Va. – The Geneva College baseball team wrapped up its season on a high note, sweeping Bethany in a doubleheader on Saturday by scores of 12-9 and 7-5. Geneva finishes the year 16-23 overall, 7-13 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference.
Freshman Ryan Conover got the start in game one, and he was strong early. The Golden Tornadoes also gave him some early run support.
Geneva got on the board in the second on an RBI-single off the bat of senior Gabriel Morales. The Golden Tornadoes added three more runs in the third. Freshman Kirk Bearjar drove home two with a double, and Bearjar came around to score later in the inning on a sacrifice fly from senior Adrian Tapia.
Bethany pushed across an unearned run in the fourth, but Geneva responded with a run in the fifth on an RBI from sophomore Connor O'Brien. The Golden Tornadoes added three more in the sixth. Junior David Toruno had an RBI-double, Bearjar scored on a double steal with Toruno, and then sophomore Zack Sackett drove home Bearjar to extend the Geneva lead to 8-1.
Conover seemed to tire in the sixth, though, and the Bison answered with a huge inning. After managing just two hits, both singles, through the first five innings, Bethany took advantage of some command issues to score eight times. Geneva used two relievers to get out of the inning, with sophomore Caleb Graft eventually coming into to finally retire the Bison. There were three walks, a hit batter and five singles by Bethany in the frame. Suddenly, Geneva was starting at a 9-8 deficit after leading the whole game.
The Golden Tornadoes got their offense going again in the eighth, though. Bearjar hit a one-out double, later coming around to score an RBI-single from Tapia to pull level.
Geneva then scored three times in the ninth to take the lead back. Morales and senior Alex Fee got on to start the inning. Two batters later, Morales scored on a passed ball. Toruno drove home Fee with a single, and Toruno eventually came around to score on a groundout from Sackett.
Graft closed out the victory in the ninth, 12-9, finishing off a great relief outing. He earned the win with 3.2 scoreless innings, giving up just two hits.
The offense finished with 19 hits, compared to just eight for Bethany. Toruno, Bearjar and Sackett each finished with four hits for the Golden Tornadoes as the top of the lineup did significant damage. In fact, the top five hitters finished 16-of-23 with nine runs and eight RBIs. Tapia, Fee and junior Tim Hermansen all added two hits.
Sophomore Zach Lemansky got the start in game two, and Bethany jumped ahead early with two runs in the bottom of the first.
Geneva got on the board in the top of the fourth, scoring three times. Freshman Noah Avey drove home Bearjar with the first run, Avey later came around to score on a Bethany error, and then sophomore Eric Gonzalez added one more run with an RBI-single.
Bethany responded with a run in the bottom of the fourth to pull even, and the Bison retook the lead with another run in the fifth, 4-3.
Geneva pulled level in the seventh on an RBI-groundout off the bat of Toruno. The Golden Tornadoes then retook the lead in the eighth. Morales and Gonzalez each picked up RBIs on groundouts. Geneva added one more run in ninth to go up 7-4.
Bethany tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth, scoring once, but the Golden Tornadoes held on for a 7-5 win.
Senior Timothy Munz earned the win in relief with a very effective outing. He pitched three innings while giving up just three hits and one unearned run.
Bearjar, Avey and Gonzalez led the attack with two hits apiece. Bearjar reached base four of the five times he came to the plate with two hits and two walks.
It was a good way for Geneva to wrap up its season, especially for its four seniors, Fee, Morales, Munz and Tapia, who all contributed in the doubleheader sweep.
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).
