Greenville, PA - The Geneva College Baseball team earned their first Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) win of the season on April 5 against Thiel College in a single nine-inning game with an 8-4 final score. The win brings the team’s record to 7-16, 1-8 in the PAC.
Geneva started the day off strong when junior Vinnie Howells (Beaver Falls, PA/Riverside), the second batter to the plate for the Golden Tornadoes, doubled in a hard line drive out to center field in the top of the first. Next up to bat Joey Luciana’s (Oakmont, PA/St. Joseph) single hard drive up the middle was enough to bring Howells home, earning Geneva the early lead. Forrest Beighley (Beaver Falls, PA/Blackhawk) followed shortly behind with a strong double out to right field, bringing Luciana home.
Geneva held the 2-0 lead until the bottom of the second when Thiel was able to bring their first runner around base. The teams stayed pretty evenly matched, remaining at a 2-1 score for two more innings before Geneva was able to find their footing and dominate in the top of the fifth.
With bases loaded, Luciana once again stepped up to the plate and hit a hard drive out to left field, reaching on an error but managing to bring home third baseman Dan Staub (Oil City, PA/Oil City) and outfielder Tyler Pagaduan (Voorhess, NJ/Eastern Regional), strengthening Geneva’s lead to 4-1. Beighley’s talent at the plate showed for a second time just one batter later as his strong single to left field brought in Howells and Luciana, earning him another two RBI’s and bringing the score to 6-1.
Thiel worked hard for a comeback in the bottom of the seventh, managing to bring three men over the home plate, to shrink the gap to 6-4.
The Golden Tornadoes’ endurance persisted, tallying five more runs in the final two innings of the game. Geneva finished with a score of 11-5, earning one more for their win column.
Beighley led the team offensively, earning four hits in his five at bats with three singles, a double and three RBI’s. Pagaduan and Luciana also earned three RBI’s a piece.
Geneva will return to the pitch on Friday, April 7 at Thomas More for a single nine inning game starting at 4 p.m.
On the mound, Branden Schlick (Harmony, PA/Seneca Valley) tallied the win after four innings of work.
Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 40 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, Adult Degree Programs with fully online and classroom options, and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report ranks Geneva as a Top Three Best Value Regional University with one of the Top 100 engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God’s Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today’s world.
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