While Geneva students traveled far and near for a variety of reasons the Golden Tornado baseball and softball teams wasted no time in started up their season down in the sunshine state. Packing the spring break full of games the baseball team stands with an overall record of 3-6 and the softball teams 3-7, giving Geneva sports fans a combined 19 games of action in the past week.

The baseball team flew to Ft. Pierce, FL starting early on March 2nd. Many new faces got some game time action for the GTâ??s in this weekâ??s play. After graduating a large group of seniors last year, this yearâ??s lineup consists with a mix of some familiar faces along with many young new faces. Damazo started strong with a hitting streak on offense hitting three straight against Martin Luther on Monday. Wingard, Mike Jeffreys, Adam Teets and freshman JC Ackerman each had two hits in the second game victory over Martin Luther.

Tuesdayâ??s baseball action mirrors not only Mondays but last Saturdayâ??s as well as Geneva bounced back after losing the first game for the second win split against Muhlenberg College for the 3-3 record. Taking leadership on the mound, Mike Jeffreys allowed just two earned runs on four hits while striking out 11 and walking just one batter to earn his first pitching win of the season. T.J. Lambert led Genevaâ??s eight hit attack with a pair of knocks and two runs batted in. Freshman Zack Ackerman also picked up a pair of hits for Geneva.

Thursday and Fridayâ??s games did not repeat the first three as Genevaâ??s offense went missing. Geneva dropped the 9 inning game to Hilbert College on Thursday with a 7-3 decision. Lebanon Valley took advantage of five Geneva errors racking up an early four inning lead of 5-0. Attempting to close the gap Geneva scored three runs in the sixth inning when Mike Jeffreys slammed a three-run homer. Unfortunately, Lebanon Valley sealed the game with an additional two runs in the eighth inning. In the mist of the hard loss, experience was gained as freshman Ian Macdonald got the pitching start for Geneva and went 4.1 innings and allowed three earned runs and five hits. Drew Nichols and Doug Sanson pitched the final 3.2 innings and allowed just earned runs while striking out three.

Standing at a 3-4 overall record Geneva played Northwestern College in a double header. Geneva learned from Thursdayâ??s defensive mistakes but at the cost of losing the offensive battle. Geneva managed just two hits in game one while Northwestern came away with seven hits. Doug Sanson and Caleb Kilgore combined the seven inning effort with Sanson coming away with the hard loss. As impressive as Genevaâ??s pitching duo was in game one, Mike Jeffreys was even more dominant in the nigh cap. Jeffreys struck out 11 batters and allowed just four hits in the 1-0 loss. Unfortunately, Northwestern collected a run in the four hits leaving Geneva with an overall record at 3-6.

In softball action, the women found themselves in an offensive struggle. The defending Presidentsâ?? Athletic Conference (PAC) Champions dropped a 6-1 decision to Aurora before falling to 6-2 to Bluffton on their opening Monday of play. Freshman Samantha Johnson made her collegiate debut on Monday allowing only two earned runs but was the victim of four Geneva errors. Senior Ashley Davis found an RBI each game joined by teammate Laura Beck in game two but still ending the starting day with a 0-2 record.

Tuesdayâ??s game one against Muskingum College looked similar to the first pair of games. The Golden Tornadoes dropped an 8-4 final to Muskingum but got its offense on track for game two against Presentation College for the seasonâ??s first victory ending with a 12-3 final. Andi Hinds took the ball for Geneva against Presentation and picked up the win with five solid innings of work and allowing just three earned runs. The offense racked up 14 hits including a 3-4 effort from freshman Dayna Hicks. Hicks, who was also 3-4 in game one, scored four runs and swiped six stolen bases in the duration of the day. Senior Christina Fuqua drove in four runs in game two and picked up three hits on the way. Ashley Davis also had a pair of hits while freshmen Elyssa Simko and Melissa Reeder each collected their first collegiate hits.

Looking to keep the victory momentum Geneva found Humpday to be filled of heartbreak in dropping both games on Wednesday. Game one Geneva battled Catholic University with a close game decision of 7-6. A pair of miscues in the seventh inning opened the door for Catholic as they took the opportunity with a three-run game winning rally.

Illinois College joined Geneva on the field for game two. Geneva started strong posting three runs in the bottom of the first. Finding the ball with the bat, Davis, Beck, Deem and Simko kept the bases occupied but was unable to grab the lead. Illinois posted four runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh for the win. In the mist of the Wednesday losses Christina Fuqua pick up three hits in the dayâ??s action to lead Genevaâ??s 11-hit attack.

Standing with a 1-5 overall record Geneva took advantage of the day off on Thursday to come back to split the last four games of the week. Geneva and Muskingum found themselves on the field for the second time. Geneva remembering the previous 8-4 loss was looking to reverse the past. Allowing Muskingum to take a 7-0 lead wasnâ??t the start they had in mind. Geneva didnâ??t let their heads down as the Samantha Johnson and Dayna Hicks each supplied RBI singles in the rally. Leah Prisuta double plated another run in the fifth inning and Geneva put the tying runs on the base in the seventh but came up on the short end with a 7-5 loss. For the second game Concordia from Chicago met Geneva in Kissimmee, Florida. Samantha Johnson featured a stellar pitching performance to pick up her first collegiate victory, allowing one earned run and struck out nine in the victory. The offense got jump started with three runs in the first highlighted by an RBI single from Fuqua and a two-run triple from Beck. Three more runs came across in the third on an Ashley Davis single and a Beck sacrifice fly. Beck completed her stellar day at the plate with her first career home run in the fifth inning. Beck accounted for five RBIâ??s in the nigh cap. Geneva banged out 13 hits in game two including a 4-4 game from fugue and two hits each from Beck, Johnson and another freshman finding action, Taylor Yarletts. Geneva found their second win of the season against Concordia with a 9-5 final.

Saturday the Golden Tornadoes found a way to continue the previous winâ??s momentum. A 16-7 win over Skidmore bumped Genevaâ??s record to 3-6. In the victory Dayna Hicks open the first inning taking a walk and then proceeding to steal a pair of bases before score on a wild pitch. Leah Prisuta began her career day with a second dinning run scoring single to extend the lead to 2-0. Genevaâ??s defense helped Skidmore post seven runs in the second inning leaving Geneva behind in a five point gap. Coming right back, Geneva tied the score with five runs thanks to the help of Prisutaâ??s three-run triple. Samantha Johnson also came up with the first of two RBI singles. A pair of bases loaded walks to Lori Deem and Johnson in the fourth put Geneva up 9-7. A run in the sixth and six more in the seventh put the game away. Game two against Simpson Geneva posted a pair of runs in the bottom of the first but with a series of errors Simpson took the lead and ensured the game with a six run sixth inning.

Monday morning both teams will play their final games in Florida before heading back to Genevaâ??s campus. Baseball will face Hilbert College in nine innings and softball will play Transylvania in game one and Mt. Union in game two. On Saturday March 16th softball will take a short road trip to Point Park to play at 1pm and 3 pm while baseball hosts Fredonia State for their home opener at 1pm and 3pm.

Athletic Schedule for the week:

News & Highlights

...more

This Week's Games

*HOME GAMES IN BOLD