BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College baseball team was scheduled to play two seven-inning games against La Roche on Saturday afternoon on the Golden Tornadoes' home opening day of play.  The two squads ended up playing the equivalent of three games when the first game went 14 innings, but the extra effort proved worthwhile as Geneva captured two dramatic one-run victories, 5-4 and 9-8.  The baseball team improved to 3-1 as it now prepares to head to Florida in a few days over Geneva's Spring Break week.

In game one of the day, La Roche scratched across a run in the top of the first off junior starter Jason Triscila, but Geneva answered back with a run in the bottom of the frame when senior Kirk Bearjar singled home junior Michael Twigg, who led off with a walk.

The Redhawks pushed another run across in the top of the third inning, but Bearjar came through again in the bottom half when he drove in sophomore Marco Chenet with a home run down the left field line to give Geneva a 3-2 edge.  Chenet added another run in the fourth when he doubled home junior Bradley McGuire.

La Roche got one of those runs back off the Geneva bullpen in the sixth, and then the Golden Tornado defense allowed La Roche to tie the game in the seventh when a runner reached first off a passed ball on a swinging strikeout, and then with two outs he stole second and came around on two throwing errors to even the score at 4-4, sending the game to extra innings.

Both team's pitching staff dominated in the extra frames.  In fact, through the first three extra innings, just one of the 18 combined batters for both team reached base, and that was a Redhawk who singled with two outs in the tenth and was promptly caught stealing.

Geneva finally broke through in the bottom of the 14^th inning when Twigg led off with a double and later scored on a wild pitch, giving the Golden Tornadoes a dramatic 5-4 walk-off win.

Senior Jake McFarland earned the win with three innings of scoreless relief.  In fact, Geneva's bullpen pitched nine innings and gave up just one earned run.

Chenet led the offense, going 3-for-5 with a walk and a double, while Bearjar collected two hits, including the 2-run homer, and sophomore CJ Jackson added two hits.

In game two, La Roche again jumped ahead with a run in the top of the first against senior starter Ryan Conover, but Geneva quickly answered with a big inning in the bottom of the frame.

Twigg led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored on a single from freshman Luke Troxell.  After a walk by Chenet, Bearjar drove in Troxell with a single.  McGuire followed with a single to drive in Chenet, and Bearjar eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly from sophomore Colin McCrone to give the Golden Tornadoes a 4-1 lead after one inning.

La Roche rallied with three runs in the top of the second, though, and the Geneva offense went silent against Redhawks' reliever Izaak Ogrodowcyzk.  La Roche retook the lead with a run in the fourth, and the Redhawks struck for three more runs in the fifth courtesy two Geneva errors.

Just as the light was starting to fade in the late afternoon, though, the offense came to life in the bottom of the sixth after four quiet innings, aided by a loss of control by the La Roche bullpen.  McGuire led off with a double, and he scored on an RBI-single from sophomore Mason Smith.  After an out, Ogrodowcyzk walked the next two Geneva batters to load the bases, forcing La Roche to turn to reliever Jake Sullivan.

Sullivan couldn't find his command either, though, walking Twigg to score one run.  McCrone then scored on a wild pitch, and after Troxell walked to reload the bases with one out, junior Hank Fedullo scored on another wild pitch to tie the game while advancing the other two baserunners into scoring position.  Chenet followed with a deep sacrifice fly to center to score Twigg, giving Geneva the lead back.

The umpires allowed La Roche the opportunity to take its turn to bat in the top of the seventh despite conditions starting to get dark, but sophomore Jake Buyajian quickly retired the Redhawks in order to secure the second dramatic victory of the day, this one 9-8.

Buyajian earned the victory with two innings of perfect relief, retiring all six batters he faced, including two strikeouts.

McGuire was the only Golden Tornado with two hits, finishing 2-for-3 with a double, a run and an RBI.  Twigg scored twice.

The baseball team will wrap up classes this week and then fly down to Florida on Friday to begin its week of games in warmer conditions.  Geneva will open play next Saturday with a 7:00 p.m. game against Rockford, with the Golden Tornadoes scheduled to play eight times over the Spring Break week before returning back to Beaver Falls.