Box Score One bad inning cost John Carroll dearly in its first match-up this season against Notre Dame College.

This time around, there would be no bad innings for the Blue Streaks. In fact, there were a couple of very good ones.

A three-run seventh followed by a 10-run eighth broke open what had been a close game as the Blue Streaks bounced the Falcons, 16-1, in the 2012 John Carroll home opener Tuesday afternoon at Schweickert Field.

Box Score

JCU lost to Notre Dame by a 5-4 score on March 21 when a five-run inning sunk the Blue Streaks after holding a 2-0 lead. Thanks to a strong start by a rookie pitcher, John Carroll never trailed in its first game at home since May 5, 2011.

Andy Doring gave John Carroll a strong four-and-two-thirds innings in just his second collegiate start. He allowed just one hit and nearly had his first collegiate victory. But he had to leave after loading the bases with two out in the top of the fifth inning of a 3-0 game.

JCU had scored its three runs the old fashioned way: manufacturing them. Mark Huddle's one-out grounder in the second inning scored Tom Hickey from third. In the third, John Carroll went ahead 2-0 when Hickey hit a sacrifice fly to plate Bobby Sabatino.

The Blue Streaks lead was pushed to three when Joe Veltri singles home Huddle with one down in the fourth.

Still, the lead was precarious enough at the time to summon Joe Bossard from the pen to relieve Doring. After hitting a batter in his first at bat, Bossard induced a lazt fly ball to end the Falcons threat.

It was not until the seventh inning that the Blue Streaks pulled away. Up until that point, the teams had combined for a total of four runs and seven hits.

It started innocently enough with Veltri drawing a walk to lead off the bottom of the frame. After a sacrifice moved him to second, Dan Potter blasted a single to the outfield to score Veltri. When Mitchell Herringshaw reached on a  fielder's choice, any thoughts of a big inning seemed doused.

But Tom Hickey changed that with one swing off the bat, hitting his first home run of the season and the seventh of his career over the right field fence for a 6-1 John Carroll lead.

The late explosion by JCU seemed to be a sign of things to come as the Streaks crossed the plate ten times in the eighth on five hits, three errors, three walsk and a hit batsmen. The big blows were a two RBI single by Sabatino and a three RBi double by Aaron Miller.

Bossard earned his first win of 2012, allowing just one hit in one and a third innings of work.

Hickey, Miller and Ryan Konsler all finished with three RBI as John Carroll improved to 7-8 on the season. The Blue Streaks have won seven of their last ten games.