CLERMONT, Fla. – The Geneva College softball team picked up a pair of wins on Tuesday in Florida, defeating Buena Vista 7-5 to open the day and then finishing the day with a 10-3 victory over Bluffton. Geneva improved to 3-1 on the young season with the wins.
In the first game of the day against Buena Vista, sophomore Sophia Tvaroch got the start in the circle and picked up a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless top of the first inning. The Geneva offense gave her some early run support when sophomore Lexi Zanic and senior Julia Hart hit back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the frame. The Golden Tornadoes added another run in the bottom of the third on an RBI-groundout from sophomore Justine Robbins.
Tvaroch racked up seven strikeouts through three scoreless innings before running into trouble in the fourth inning. An error helped Buena's Vista's offense rally, and four straight two-out baserunners led to four runs for the Beavers, all unearned, putting the Golden Tornadoes in a 4-2 deficit.
Geneva answered right back in bottom of the frame, though. Freshman Aliya Ottaviani opened the inning with a double to left, and sophomore Madison Rapp followed with a walk to put two runners on. Both eventually came around to score on a two-out single off the bat of freshman Molly Shelley to pull the Golden Tornadoes even.
Tvaroch worked a scoreless top of the fifth, and the Geneva offense regained the lead in the bottom of the inning. The first four batters of the inning reached. Hart singled, Robbins walked, junior Megan Gray singled to load the bases, and then Ottaviani drew a walk to force in a run. A batter later, sophomore Alex Guzman singled home two to increase the Geneva advantage to 7-4.
Graduate student Haley Smith relieved Tvaroch to start the sixth, and she worked around some trouble while giving up a run, but she got a key strikeout to end the inning with the bases loaded.
In the seventh, after two batters reached base with one out, sophomore McKenzie Rapp relieved Smith and secured the last two outs to earn her second save of the season.
Tvaroch earned the win, pitching 5.0 innings while giving up eight hits and four unearned runs, striking out a career-high 10 batters.
Hart led the offense with three hits, while Guzman added two hits and two RBIs. Shelley also drove in two runs.
Sophomore Jorja Koerner got the start in game two against Bluffton, and once again the Geneva offense gave its starter some early run support. Shelley opened the game with a walk, stole second, and then came around to score on a double from Zanic. Zanic later came home on an RBI-groundout from Robbins to put Geneva quickly ahead, 2-0.
Koerner retired six of the first seven batters she faced before running into some trouble in the third inning. Four of the first five batters in the frame got hits, and Bluffton eventually scored three times to take a 3-2 lead.
Geneva responded quickly in the top of the fourth. Shelley singled and stole second base with two outs, and she came around to score on an RBI-single from Hart to knot the score at 3-3.
McKenzie Rapp came in to relieve Koerner in the bottom of the fourth, and the sophomore was excellent. She retired the Beavers in order and then the offense exploded for a big inning in the top of the fifth, aided by a key Bluffton error.
Sophomore Liv Keller started the rally with a one-out single, and two walks eventually loaded the bases for Shelley. She was hit by the pitch, driving in one run. Zanic followed with a groundball to third that should have ended the inning, but the third baseman threw wildly to first, and all three runners scored. Hart followed with another RBI-single to drive in Zanic, and Geneva plated one more runner on another Bluffton error to increase its lead to 9-3.
That was more than enough offense for Rapp. She retired the first seven batters she faced and only gave up one hit in four innings of relief. Geneva pushed one more run across in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly from freshman Alexa Forsythe to wrap up the scoring.
Rapp, after earning saves in Geneva's first two victories this week, earned the win with 4.0 innings of stellar relief while striking out three.
Hart continued her strong start to the season by reaching base three times on two singles and a walk, while driving in two runners. Keller also had a strong day at the plate, reaching base all four times on three singles and a walk. Shelley reached base three times, scoring three times, while Zanic reached base twice and scored twice.
Geneva will enjoy an off day tomorrow before wrapping up its play in Florida with two games on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday.
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).
