Box Score

What transpired in the OAC elimination game between No. 2 John Carroll and No. 1 Marietta on Saturday afternoon was nothing short of epic.  As competitive athletics go, however, someone must emerge victorious, as the Pioneers did in a half-marathon 11-10 victory that took 13 innings to complete.

The Blue Streaks flashed three runs across the board in the top of the 13th to break a 7-7 tie, but the two-time defending national champions scored four in the bottom half of the inning to advance in the 2013 OAC Tournament.

"The guys showed a lot of heart and character today, and its tough," said JCU head coach Marc Thibeault after the game.

After a one-day weather induced postponement, the afternoon could not have started much worse for John Carroll.  Marietta jumped on Blue Streak starter Andrew Doring for five runs (three earned) in the bottom of the first.

The score remained 5-0 until senior Aaron Miller, who finished 3-6 on the day, blasted a solo home run to put the Blue & Gold on the board in the third.  His shot was followed up in the top of the fifth by Jimmy Spagna, who clocked his team-leading seventh homer of 2013, a two-run job that cut the lead to 5-3.

Following an answer in the form of a pair of Pioneer runs, JCU continued to chip away until senior Joe Veltri hit a sacrifice fly to score Chet Lauer and tie the game in the top of the ninth.

Aaron Lapaglia replaced Doring (4.1 IP, five earned runs, three stike outs) on the mound in the fifth frame and was spectacular.  The freshman hurler threw four scoreless innings to keep the Streaks in the thick of it.

Once in extra innings, all was quiet on the scoreboard until the top of the 13th. 

Tyler Gentile broke the three-inning long tie with an RBI single through the left side that scored Spagna.  Then, senior Ryan Konsler delivered an RBI single and came around to score on a throwing error drawn by senior Connor Marrero.

With a 10-7 advantage, all appeared to be well as John Carroll needed just three outs to secure the win and stay alive in the tournament.

As fate would have it, however, Marietta got its first two runners on base and delivered the final blow.  The Pioneers scored four in their half of the inning and stunned the Blue Streaks, 11-10, to advance.

"They got a couple of two-strike hits, and we knew that we had to be locked in for all 39 outs, if that's what it took," said Thibeault.

Despite the loss, JCU ends its 2013 campaign with a 25-16 overall record, and has received year-long contributions from its senior class of Konsler, Veltri, Miller, Marrero, Patrick O'Brien, and Vinny Trivisonno.

 "If you're going to have a good season, you're going to have to have your seniors play like seniors and they did," Thibeault said proudly.

"We've got great kids, and more importantly, they're all going to eventually hang up the spikes and go on to do great things," he added.