March 18, 2009 - Geneva College
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March 18, 2009

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Derek Sumner - NCCAA National Player of the Week

Beaver Falls, PA – Not much has gone wrong in the first two weeks of the Geneva College baseball season. In fact, the Golden Tornadoes have won eight straight games and brought home a 9-2 overall record from Florida on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) named senior pitcher Derek Sumner the national player of the week.

Sumner helped guide the Golden Tornadoes to a perfect 6-0 record last week with doubleheader sweeps over Martin Luther, Northwestern and Bethany. Sumner chipped in on the mound and at the plate. Geneva College′s number one starter made two starts and picked up a pair of victories with two complete games. In 14 innings of work, Sumner combined for 23 strikeouts in wins over Martin Luther and Bethany.

Equally as impressive was Sumner′s work with the bat. He finished the week 12-25 (.480) at the plate, including six runs scored and seven RBI′s. Sumner played a key role in Geneva′s most dramatic victory of the week. Trailing into the sixth inning on Saturday against Bethany, Sumner launched a go-ahead grand slam to cap off a five-run inning that pushed the Golden Tornadoes to their sixth victory of the week.

Geneva opens the northern portion of its schedule on Friday in the first of a three-game series against Penn State Beaver this weekend. The Golden Tornadoes will host the Lions in a single game on Friday before traveling across town for a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.
Mar 18, 2009