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

John Carroll did not struggle to hit the ball Saturday afternoon at Betty Dilahunt Field against the Wittenberg Tigers.

The issue was scoring runs.

JCU fell in the opening game of a non-conference twinbill, 1-0, when un unearned run crossed the plate in the seventh inning. In the nightcap, the Blue Streaks would solve the issue of scoring runs by plating eight of them in an 8-3 victory.

In the opener, JCU had seven different players collect at least one hit, with Laura Boselovic (Wexford, PA, North Allegheny) actually posting two hits. Unfortunately, none of those hits produced a run.

Starting pitcher Brittany Danilov (Canfield, OH, Canfield) would become the hard luck loser in the seventh despite pitching two-git shutout ball through six innings. Consecutive errors on the first two batters leading off the seventh put Wittenberg in position to win the game. A scarfice bunt followed by a scarfice fly would push across the game-winning tally for the Tigers.

Danilov took the lost, giving up just the one unearned run on two hits, all the while striking out five.

The Blue Streaks would get rolling early on in game two. Boselovic would produce a two-out, two run double in the top of the second to stake her team a 2-0 lead.

Wittenberg answered with a single run in the bottom the third, but John Carroll responded with two unearned runs in the top of the fourth.

Already up 4-1, the big blow would come in the seventh. With one run already across, Sam Thompson (Cheektowaga, NY, Maryvale) blasted a three-run home run to effectively seal the win.

Thompson's round tripper aided her own cause, as she picked up her third win of the year on the mound. She allowed seven hits and three runs ins even innings of work, striking out six.

Offensively, Michelle Murphy (Erie, PA, Villa Maria Academy), Erin Riccardi (North Canton, Hoover High School) and Olivia Mathews (Suffield, OH, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary) each had two hits and two runs scored in the second game.

John Carroll, which began the game ranked #14 in Division III but had not played since March 7, moves its record to 10-2 on the year thanks to the split.