BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – Junior Caleb Graft pitched a gem in game one of the Geneva College baseball doubleheader against Bethany on Saturday in which the Golden Tornadoes celebrated seniors Cael Brandt, Tim Hermansen, Joshua Kearns and David Toruno prior to the games.  Graft pitched a complete-game shutout in an 8-0 win in the first game.  Bethany held on for a 7-6 victory in game two to split the doubleheader.  Geneva's record is now 15-19 overall, 5-13 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference.

Graft was impressive from the start in game one, retiring 11 of the first 13 Bison he faced.  Geneva got on the board in the bottom of the second when junior Zach Lemansky singled to leadoff and eventually came around to score on a Bison error.

Geneva added to its lead in the bottom of the fourth when sophomore Kirk Bearjar singled, extending his hitting streak to 14 games, and he eventually scored on an RBI-single from sophomore Aaron Babu.

The Golden Tornadoes added two more runs in the fifth.  Hermansen singled and stole second, and he came home on a single by junior Zack Sackett.  Bearjar followed with a double to drive home Sackett.

That was more than enough offense for Graft, but the Golden Tornadoes broke the game open with four more runs in in the seventh.  Toruno started the inning with a double.  He scored on an RBI-single from junior Eric Gonzalez.  Gonazlez scored on another RBI-single from Sackett.  Bearjar followed with an RBI-single to bring home freshman Michael Twigg, and Sackett scored the final run on another Bethany error.

Graft easily closed out the win from there, earning the complete-game shutout to move his record to 4-1 on the season.  He gave up seven hits, all singles, without walking anyone, while striking out nine.

Bearjar led the offense with three hits and two RBIs.  Sackett contributed two hits, two runs and two RBIs, while Hermansen also added two hits.  Babu drove in two runs.

Kearns got the start in game two, and he was effective early.  Bethany did push a run across in the second to give the Bison an early lead, forcing Geneva to play from behind.

Bethany added a second run in the fourth before Geneva pulled even in the bottom of the frame.  Twigg led off with a double.  Hermansen reached on a bunt single to move Twigg to third, and the two executed a first-and-third double steal to score one run.  Hermansen later scored on a Bearjar groundout.

Bethany immediately responded in the top of the fifth, though, scoring twice after the first two batters reached on a hit-by-pitch.  The Golden Tornadoes got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning when Toruno led off with a single and later came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Twigg.

However, the Bison added to their lead with a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth to make it 7-3.  Geneva scored twice in the eighth when Gonzalez led off with a double and later scored on a groundout.  Sackett followed with an RBI-triple to drive in Twigg, who had walked earlier, to bring Geneva within 7-5.

Brandt entered in relief in the ninth and held the Bison scoreless.  Geneva tried to rally in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of a Bison error to score once, but the Golden Tornadoes left the tying run stranded at third base and lost, 7-6.

Sackett and Toruno led the offense in game two, each contributing three hits.  Gonzalez added two hits, while Twigg scored twice.

Geneva will wrap up its season on Monday with a home doubleheader against Chatham at 11:00 a.m.