PITTSBURGH, Pa. – After opening the season by scoring 26 runs in a doubleheader at Lancaster Bible, the Geneva College baseball team did even better on Tuesday afternoon with a 17-5 victory at La Roche.  Geneva improved to 2-1 with the win.

It was La Roche that jumped ahead early when the Redhawks connected for a three-run home run off Geneva's starting pitcher, sophomore Kaden Peeples, in the bottom of the first inning.  Peeples settled down, though, after the tough first inning, and Geneva's offense came to life over the next few innings. 

The Golden Tornadoes quickly erased their deficit in the top of the second.  Junior Aaron Babu and senior Eric Gonzalez each singled, and both came around to score on a triple from senior Zack Sackett.  Sophomore Bradley McGuire followed with a double to drive in Sackett, and junior Kirk Bearjar brought home McGuire with an RBI-single to give Geneva the lead.

Geneva put up another four-spot in the top of the third.  The Golden Tornadoes loaded the bases with no outs, and Sackett drove in two more with an RBI-double.  Later in the inning, Gonzalez and Sackett came around to score to build the lead to 8-3.

Peeples put up another scoreless inning in the third, and in the top of the fourth, Geneva added two more runs.  Senior Connor O'Brien opened the frame with a walk, and he went to third on a double from Babu.  Freshman Marco Chenet drove home both with a single to extend the advantage to 10-3.

Junior Ryan Conover relieved Peeples in the bottom of the fourth, and he was impressive in the first inning of his season debut, retiring the Redhawks in order, including two strikeouts, which was the first clean inning for either team up to that point.

Conover lost his command in the bottom of the fifth, though, walking four Redhawks as a part of a two-run La Roche rally.  Senior Zach Lemansky relieved Conover and threw just one pitch to get out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam.

Geneva immediately answered in the top of the sixth with a rally after two were out.  Gonzalez drove home sophomore Josh Hull with a two-out, RBI-single, and then Sackett picked up his third extra-base hit of the day with a triple to drive home Gonzalez.  McGuire followed with a double to drive home Sackett to close out the scoring in the frame, increasing the Golden Tornado lead to 13-5.

Geneva closed out the game with one more big inning in the top of the seventh, scoring four more runs.  Chenet, Gonzalez, Sackett and McGuire each had RBIs to wrap up the scoring, 17-5.  The game was called after seven innings due to darkness.

Sackett spearheaded the offensive attack with three hits, a double and two triples, with three runs scored and a career high six RBIs.  McGuire and Chenet each finished with two hits and three RBIs, while Babu had two hits and four runs scored and Gonzalez two hits, two walks, three runs scored and two RBIs.  Peeples earned the win.

The baseball team will travel down to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in two days to prepare for a week of baseball beginning this Saturday with a 10:00 a.m. contest with Valley Forge.  Geneva will play nine games before returning back home.