Box Scores:  Game 1 vs. Otterbein  /  Game 2 vs. Otterbein

A battle-and road-weary John Carroll team nearly pulled off a sweep of Otterbein, but had to ultimately settle for a split as two normally reliable hurlers could not get out of the ninth inning in the nightcap.

John Carroll won the opener, 8-7, but let a one-run lead get away in the final inning of the nightcap as the host Cardinals rallied for a 4-3 win in game two. The loss marked John Carroll's first in the second game of a doubleheader all season.

Eventually, the weather related issues were bound to catch up with the Blue Streaks. It is not normal to play back-to-back conference doubleheaders with a night at an out-of-town hotel thrown in.

That was what John Carroll has to endure the last two days, playing two games Monday in Ada against Ohio Northern ... then staying overnight at a hotel in the Columbus area ... then playing two games in Westerville against a veteran Otterbein team.

Game one was all John Carroll in the early going. The Blue Streaks roughed up Jeremy Williams, who began the day as the OAC leader in ERA (0.75), by scoring seven times on ten hits in 2 1/3 innings. The key inning was a five-run second, as both Ryan Lewis and Matthew Pangallo had two RBI doubles.

JCU built a 7-2 lead, but could not hold it. Otterbein scored twice in the third and three times in the fifth to tie the game at 7-7.

It would take a Lewis triple to lead off the sixth to set up the winning run. Michael Krainz followed with an RBI single to plate the game winning run.

Conor Connell who came on to retire the final batter in the fifth, picked up the win. Marty Smith got the final five batters out in order, including three in the seventh, to lock up the win with his fourth save.

Matt Fort was handed the ball in game two, and nearly went the distance. he gave up single runs in the first and second, but settled down and allowed just two hits between the third and sixth innings.

In the meantime, John Carroll would take the lead in the fifth. Trailing 2-1 entering the top of the fifth, the Blue Streaks would get two runners on base when Adam Sockel and Pangallo both singled. They would come around to score on an error by the Otterbein shortstop on a ball put in play by Bryan Robinett.

In what would be a key play of the game that loomed large later on, Christopher Cairo doubled to left, but Robinett was thrown out at home trying to score John Carroll's fourth run.

After the fifth inning, John Carroll would manage just one more hit (a Pangallo single in the seventh).

Fort to his credit was making the lead stand. He got out of a jam in the seventh, then set Otterbein down 1-2-3 in the eight. But in the ninth, things would change.

After getting the first out, Fort surrendered singles to Pat Connor and Ben Titus. Smith would come into relieve Fort in an effort to seal the win. He induced a ground out that allowed Titus and Connor to advance to second and third.

With two out, Smith would hit a batter, setting up what would be a two-out two-run single by Chris Kovanda to win the game for the Cardinals.

John Carroll is now 17-8 overall and 8-4 (4th place) in the OAC. Otterbein is 14-10 overall and 5-5 (6th place) in the OAC.