GROVE CITY, Pa. – Sophomore Molly Shelley almost delivered what would have been one of the most dramatic highlights in recent memory for the Geneva College softball team in the opener of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) on Thursday against Thiel, hosted at Grove City.  Unfortunately, her potential walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh was caught by a diving stab up against the wall in centerfield, allowing the Tomcats to hold on for a 3-2 victory.  Geneva drops into the elimination bracket and will need to make it through the tougher route to the PAC Championship trophy.

Junior Sophia Tvaroch got the start in the circle.  She walked the opening batter of the game, and then after retiring the next two batters, Thiel's Dani Ficeti won a long battle with Tvaroch, and after fouling off five pitches, Ficeti made strong contact with Tvaroch's next pitch and sent the ball over the left field fence, putting Geneva in an early hole.

The Geneva offense struggled for most of the game against Thiel ace Becca Landis, who came into the game having not allowed an earned run in 27 straight innings.  The Golden Tornadoes didn't get their first hit until sophomore Kyra Wilcox led off the bottom of the fourth with a single.  That was the only hit Geneva managed through the first five innings.

Thiel pushed across what proved to be a key run in the top of the sixth to extend its lead to 3-0 before the Golden Tornado offense began to stir.

Sophomore Molly Shelley led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, and she came around to score on a double from Wilcox.  Junior Lexi Zanic followed with a single to put runners at first and third with no outs.  A wild pitch allowed Wilcox to score and Zanic to move to second, and Zanic advanced to third on a fly out from graduate student Julia Hart.  Unfortunately, a strikeout and a fly out kept Geneva from tying the game.

Tvaroch kept Thiel off the board in the top of the seventh to give Geneva one last chance.  Landis struck out the first two Golden Tornadoes in the bottom of the inning before sophomore pinch hitter Aliya Ottaviani put together a great at-bat, earning a walk after a nine-pitch battle that included Ottaviani fouling off three two-strike pitches. 

Shelley came to the plate after Ottaviani reached and after a taking a ball, she smoked a ball to dead center that appeared to be heading over the fence.  But Thiel's centerfielder, Jensen Stehlik, who was already playing deep, sprinted back and lunged up against the wall, catching the ball while holding on as she crashed into the fence.  The play stymied Shelley's heroics and allowed the Tomcats to hold on, 3-2.

Tvaroch pitched all seven innings, giving up five hits and three runs, while striking out six.  Landis was even better, striking out 12 Golden Tornadoes while giving up just four hits and two runs.

Offensively, Wilcox managed two of Geneva's four hits, while scoring one of the runs.

Geneva's path to the title will now require the Golden Tornadoes to win two games on Friday and three more games on Saturday, weather permitting.  Geneva will begin that path tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. in an elimination game against the loser of Thursday afternoon's game between No. 1 Grove City and No. 4 Allegheny.