MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Geneva Head Baseball Coach Alan Sumner achieved something that few people have ever done.  He earned his 700^th career win on Wednesday night when Geneva swept Penn State Beaver in a doubleheader down in Myrtle Beach.  The Golden Tornadoes shut out the Lions in game one, 12-0, and then finished off the sweep with a 21-9 victory in the nightcap.  The wins increase Geneva's winning streak to six straight and improve its record to 6-1 on the young season.
 
Senior Caleb Graft got the start for Geneva in game one, and he was excellent from the start.  The Golden Tornadoes gave him plenty of run support, courtesy the long ball.
 
Three straight singles from junior Aaron Babu, freshman Marco Chenet and senior Connor O'Brien got Geneva on the board in the second inning, and then two batters later senior Zack Sackett powered one over the wall to increase the GT lead to 4-0.
 
Geneva added to its lead in the third inning when Babu hit a two-run home run, and one inning later, Sackett hit his second home run of the game to give the Golden Tornadoes a 7-0 advantage, with Graft hanging zeros on the mound each inning.
 
The Golden Tornado offense never let up.  In the bottom of the fifth, Sackett walked to drive in one run, sophomore Bradley McGuire drove home two with a single, and junior Ethan Blair drove in the fourth run of the inning.  O'Brien added the last run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the sixth to close out the 12-0 victory.
 
Graft earned his first win of the season, pitching 6.0 innings while giving up just four hits.  He struck out nine.
 
Sackett and Babu led the offense.  Sackett homered twice, scored three runs and drove in five RBIs.  Babu went 3-for-3 with a homer, four runs and two RBIs.  Chenet chipped in with three hits, while McGuire and O'Brien each finished with two hits.
 
Geneva jumped ahead early in game two as well.  Junior Kirk Bearjar drove in Sackett with a sacrifice fly in the first inning.  The Golden Tornadoes then scored four times in the top of the second inning.  Chenet drove home one with a double, sophomore Josh Hull drove in Chenet with a single, and then O'Brien drove home Hull with a double.  O'Brien eventually scored on a Penn State Beaver error to give Geneva a 5-0 edge.
 
The Lions answered back in their half of the inning with three runs against junior starter Ryan Conover, all coming after Conover struck out the first two batters of the frame.  Senior Jeff Hawkins eventually relieved Conover to prevent further damage.
 
Geneva got one of those runs back in the top of the third on an RBI-single from Chenet, but Penn State Beaver answered that with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
 
The Golden Tornadoes put together another big inning in the top of the fifth.  Hull drove in one run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.  O'Brien followed with a walk to drive in another run.  Sackett drove one in with an RBI-groundout, and then McGuire plated two with an RBI-triple.  McGuire would later come home on a passed ball to push Geneva's lead to 12-4.
 
Penn State Beaver continued to keep its offense going though, scoring twice in the fifth and three more times in the sixth to close within 12-9.  Junior Jake McFarland entered in relief with two outs in the sixth and struck out the first batter he faced to get out of the jam without further damage.
 
The Geneva offense stirred back to life in the top of the seventh, though, to put the game away.  The Golden Tornadoes scored five times in the frame, capped off by a three-run home run from Babu.  Sackett had an RBI-triple earlier in the inning, with McGuire driving him home to account for the other run.
 
Geneva continued to add on runs in the top of the eighth, scoring four more times. McGuire drove in Sackett with a single, sophomore Michael Twigg drove in two with a single, while Chenet brought home one with a sacrifice fly, increasing the Golden Tornado lead to 21-9, which proved to be the final runs of the game as Geneva closed out win #700 for Sumner.  The 21 runs are the most runs scored by Geneva in a game in nine years.
 
Hawkins earned the win with 1.1 innings of hitless relief.  McFarland earned a save with 2.1 hitless innings to close out the win.
 
Geneva finished with 15 hits, with every starter managing at least one hit.  Sackett, McGuire, Twigg, Babu, Chenet and Hull each finished with two hits apiece.  Babu doubled, homered, scored three runs and drove in three runs.  McGuire scored three times and drove in four runs.  Sackett and O'Brien also scored three times each, while Chenet drove in three runs, with Sackett, Twigg, Hull and O'Brien each adding two RBIs apiece.

"I feel very blessed that the Lord has kept me at Geneva College this many years where I could actually win 700 games," said Coach Sumner.  "I've been blessed with great players and coaches around me, which has allowed me the ability to go out and know that God has a plan for us and for the guys that we work with.  The wins and losses pale in comparison to the relationships, and the Lord has given me a great team this year to be able to celebrate this accomplishment with."
 
The baseball team is off on Thursday before playing Olivet in a doubleheader on Friday, beginning at 4:00 p.m.


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).