An arctic freeze up north offered little in the way of preperation for a week in Florida, but the John Carroll softball team made a quick adjustment.
After dropping their first game of the day to the College of St. Benedict by an 8-4 count, the Blue Streaks rebounded for a 5-3 win in their second game.
St. Benedict, which had already played and won two games this season, collected just five hits in the game. But the Blazers scored eight times thanks to the timeliness of the hits and a generous JCU defense that commited five errors. Starter
Ann Marie Kirchner only allowed one earned run in her three-and-a-third innings.
The Blazers scored four runs in the first and had built an 8-0 lead before JCU started showing signs of life with the bats. The Blue Streaks exploded for four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, starting with an
Ashlee Unrue single to score
Kayla Navratil. Newcomer
Lauren Cianciolo came through with a two-run triple to score
Gina Giangreco and Unrue, after which Cianciolo scored on an error.
Alas, the rally did not continue in the sixth and seventh innings.
JCU outhit St. benedict, 6-5.
In the second game of the day, a three-run first set the table, and
Rachel Byrnes allowed three runs on nine hits and struck out five to lead the Blue Streaks to a 5-3 win over Misericordia.
Cianciolo led off the game with a single, then stole second. After moving to third on a sacrifice hit, Cianciolo was joined on base by Alyysa Coleman who drew a walk.
Ally Kleinhans singled, home Cianciolo, and then, with two outs,
Maggie Gannon delivered a two-run double that scored Kleinhans and
Christie Wade.
Misericordia closed to within 3-2 in the bottom of the third, but a Coleman RBI double in the 4th and a Kleinhans RBI single in the sixth provided insurance runs. Afer surrendering a lead off home run in the bottom of the sixth, Byrnes retired the final six batters in order to pick up the win.
