Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
The John Carroll offense was slow to warm up in game one of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament, as the squad suffered a tough 5-0 loss to Mount Union. But once the team's bats woke up in game two, fears of elimination were alleviated, as the Blue Streaks snatched a 9-3 victory over Marietta in Bexley, Ohio.

Facing off with the #3 seed Purple Raiders at 10 a.m., the Blue Streaks struggled to generate offense in the first game of the Tournament. Mount Union's Rachel McAnich stymied JCU for much of the contest, allowing only four hits. Rachel Byrnes looked just as dominant in the early going, as the sophomore held the dangerous Raider offense at bay for the first four innings.

In the top of the fifth, however, the runs began to trickle in. Andi VanSickle knocked a solo home run to center field, allowing Mount Union to take a tenuous 1-0 lead. Another solo shot to center by Leigh Siedlak in the sixth stretched the lead to two.

The #2 seed Blue Streaks threatened to answer in the bottom frame, placing runners on second and third with only one out. But McAnich emerged from the jam unscathed by recording a pair of outs. The Purple Raiders would ensure a McAnich win in the seventh, as Kristen Gomes sent a three-run blast over the right field wall of Clowson Field. The Blue and Gold were unable to respond in the bottom half of the inning, sentencing JCU to a 5-0 loss and an elimination game later in the day.

Thanks to a 3-2 Capital victory over Marietta, the Blue and Gold were matched with the Pioneers in an elimination at 5 p.m. in the last game of the day. The loss earlier in the day festered for five hours in the mind of each player. For the Pioneers, the combination would turn deadly, as the JCU offense caught fire in the crucial contest.

Marietta pitcher Alexis O'Hair would be on the wrong end of the Blue Streaks' fury early on. Four hitters into the contest, an Ally Kleinhans grounder allowed Samantha Becker to score from third, giving JCU the early momentum and a 1-0 lead.

An Ashlee Unrue would keep the ball rolling in the bottom of the second, crushing a two-out solo homer to center. Becker and Erica Cuidioni kept the rally alive, as each singled to the right to set JCU up with runners on the corners. A Marietta error on a Mackenzie Griffin hit then allowed Becker to score from third. O'Hair was promptly yanked, but reliever Lauren Larrick\ could not stop the bleeding. Though she was able to record the final out of the frame, the third inning would turn out to be her worst nightmare.

It is often said that lead-off walks always hurt you, and Larrick's walk issued to Colleen Brady was no exception. Two batters later, Lia Locey reached on an error and Unrue reached base on a walk to load the bases. Becker shot a single up the middle that allowed Brady to cross the plate. 

Though Locey was thrown out at home on the play in an attempt to score on the hit, Marietta committed another error on a Cuidioni hit. Unrue and Becker scored to increase the lead to six, but the inning was not over. Griffin earned a walk to bring the ever-dangerous Kleinhans up to the plate.

The sophomore blasted a rocket over the center field wall to grant the Blue and Gold a commanding 9-0 lead.

With Byrnes on mound, such a lead would be more than enough to keep JCU's playoff hopes alive. Though the Pioneers managed to tab two runs in the third inning and one in the fifth, the decision was never in jeopardy.

Byrnes' complete game effort increased her record to 19-4 on the year. She will need to claim a few more wins for the Blue Streaks to continue dancing in the OAC Tournament and beyond.

Following a 9-5 loss to the Purple Raiders, the host Capital Crusaders will battle with the Blue and Gold tomorrow at 11 a.m. for the right to play Mount Union. The winner of that contest will play again tomorrow at 2 p.m., and would have to defeat the Purple Raiders twice to earn the OAC Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.