Bethany drops twinbill to Geneva

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

BETHANY, W.Va. (April 22) – The Bison were defeated twice by Geneva by scores of 3-1 and 5-4 (10 innings) Saturday afternoon in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader at Bison Field.

The Bethany College softball team falls to 14-20 overall, 6-8 in the PAC. Meanwhile, the Golden Tornadoes improve to 10-6 in league play, 20-13 overall this season.

GAME 1: Geneva 3, Bethany 1

A three-run first inning by Geneva proved to be the difference in Bethany 3-1 loss in game one at Bison Field.

The Golden Tornadoes loaded the bases with one out, before back-to-back RBI singles pushed across three runs. Geneva loaded the bases again, but junior pitcher Cassie Weiss (Avella, Pa./McGuffey) forced the next to batter to fly out and limit the damage.

Bethany would scatter three hits over its first four innings at the plate, before taking advantage of a Geneva miscue to score a run in the fifth inning. Sophomore Francesca Capaldi (Steubenville, Ohio/Catholic Central) singled and freshman Kaitlyn Mills (New Lexington, Ohio/Crooksville) entered as a pinch runner. Mills was bunted over to second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch to make the score 3-1.

The Bison came up with a two-out base hit in each of the final two innings, but could not stitch together a rally to avoid a game one defeat.

Weiss was tagged with the loss after yielding three runs on six hits with six strikeouts in a complete-game effort. Geneva's Casey Farkosovsky earned the complete-game win after allowing one run (unearned) on six hits to the Bison.

Junior Jazz Fuqua (Washington, Pa./Trinity) led Bethany at the dish with two hits, including a double.

GAME 2: Geneva 5, Bethany 4 (Final/10 Innings)

Despite rallying back from a two-run deficit in the seventh inning, the Bison were edged 5-4 in 10 innings in the night cap of the doubleheader.

Bethany grabbed the lead in the first inning on a RBI-single by senior Sarah Coss (Bowie, Md./Bishop McNamara) to take a 1-0 advantage early.

Bison starting pitcher Sam Binkley (Kenilworth, Ontartio/St. James) held the Golden Tornadoes to one hit through the first three innings, before solo and two-run home runs in the fourth inning put Geneva ahead 3-1.

Bethany answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by freshman Casey Hite (Bentleyville, Pa./Bentworth) to cut the deficit to one, but the Golden Tornadoes responded with a run of their own in the fifth to rebuild the lead to 5-3.

The Bison were down to their final three outs in the seventh inning, but rallied to even the score. Hite and freshman Erica Amoroso (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon) led the frame off with back-to-back singles and advanced into scoring position on a ground out. Junior Aubrey Baehr (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley) drove in the first run on a ground out, sending Coss to the plate with two outs and the game-tying run at third base. Coss didn't waste any time, smacking the first pitch she saw into right field to tie the game at 5-5 to send the game into extra innings.

After a clean eighth inning, the Bison put a runner into scoring position when Amoroso led the inning off by being hit with a pitch and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Amoroso advanced to third on a wild pitch, but Bethany could not bring her in to score, sending the game to the 10^th inning.

Geneva loaded the bases with no outs in the 10^th and scored the eventual game-winning run on an infield single with one out, but Bethany relief pitcher Cassie Weiss struck out the next batter and forced an infield pop-up to keep the Bison within striking distance.

Bethany threatened in the bottom of the 10^th when freshman Tyra Bell (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) led the inning off with a single. Classmate Kayla Dinsmore (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek) pinch-ran for Bell and advanced to third with one out on a wild pitch and a ground out. Unfortunately, the Bison were unable to come up with a hit to tie the game and were defeated.

Weiss was dealt the loss in the circle after holding the Golden Tornadoes to one run on four hits with five strikeouts in 5.2 innings of relief. Geneva's Casey Farkosovsky improved to 17-7 on the season after yielding one hit over 3.1 innings out of the bullpen.

Five Bison finished with multiple hits, led by Coss and Bell who each had three in the game, with Coss adding two RBI to her final line. Amoroso, freshman Emily Folk (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) and freshman Sammie Weiss (Avella, Pa./McGuffey) each added a pair of hits, apiece, in the loss.

The Bison will make the road trip to Crestview Hills, Kentucky to take on league-leading Thomas More on Monday, April 24 with game one set for 3:30 p.m.