The John Carroll University baseball starting pitchers have been lights out this season.
 
Behind two dominant pitching performances, John Carroll would sweep Mount Union 7-1 and 7-0 at 23rd Street Field in Alliance, Ohio on Saturday. The second game marked the first shutout by John Carroll in the series.
 
"Our pitching was the key," said head coach Marc Thibeault. "Both starters set the tone early against a quality lineup. With the wind blowing out for a good portion of the day, our staff worked the lower part of the zone and minimized Mount Union's ability to drive the baseball."
 
With the sweep, John Carroll improves to 11-3, 2-0 OAC. The 11-3 mark ties the best 14-game mark to start a season in program history. Previously, the 2006 and 2008 teams started their seasons 11-3. Mount Union fell to 8-5, 0-2 OAC.
 
Said Thibeault, "This start is a tribute to our players. They come to the park excited to practice or play games. They bring a great culture to our program, which is something we as coaches preach. They are demonstrating the mental maturity to stay in at bats, defensively, pitching sequences and the recognition of continued improvement. Someday we can reflect on this start, but good teams should start this way. Now we have to prepare for our next game."
 
Game 1
John Carroll 7, Mount Union 1
 
A combined pitching effort led JCU to a 7-1 win in the conference opener.

Junior Brandon Maddern (2-1) fired five innings of five-hit baseball. The junior left-hander was his dominant self to start recording two strikeouts in the bottom of the first. The 6-9 southpaw would go on to fan six for the game.

Junior right-hander Aaron Lapaglia tossed the final four innings to pick up his second career save. Lapaglia allowing three hits while striking out three.
 
JCU staked its lefty to an early 1-0 lead. Catcher Jacob Schriner plated Tyler Gentile for the game's first run via a two-out single in the second.
 
UMU responded with the equalizer in the fifth. Sean Mohney laced a two-out single through the left side brining in Nick Piotrowski.
 
From there it was all John Carroll. The Blue Streaks answered back with three in the sixth to open up a 4-1 advantage. Gentile provided the big hit with a two-run double to right scoring Bobby Sabatino and David Crowley. Gentile, the JCU designated hitter, scored on Mike Raschilla's fielder's choice.
 
John Carroll would go on to add one in the seventh and two in the eighth.
 
Rob Cifelli came in to score in the seventh via a Purple Raider error. The run made it a 5-1 JCU advantage.
 
Raschilla and Schriner each knocked in their second run of the game in the eight with back-to-back singles.
 
Gentile led the way at the plate. The junior finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Schriner added two hits and a pair of RBIs from the catchers spot.

Authors note: Maddern was originally credited with seven innings pitched in the box score. This has been fixed to Maddern with five innings of work and Lapaglia with four.
 
Game 2
John Carroll 7, Mount Union 0
 
Very few pitchers in Division III have been as sharp as senior Drew Doring.
 
The right-hander fired seven innings of four-hit shutout baseball while striking out eight on Saturday. Sophomore Mark Materise threw two innings of one-hit relief as the duo would combine for a five-hit shutout.
 
With the win, Doring runs his record to 4-0. The senior has logged 29 innings on the year in his four starts. He has allowed 16 hits, five runs and has recorded 35 strikeouts. With Saturday's outing, Doring's ERA lowers to 1.24.
 
John Carroll handed its senior an early 3-0 lead jumping on junior Wesley Kemp in the first. Crowley and Mark Huddle laced singles through the right side driving in Cifelli and Sabatino. Crowley scored on a Purple Raider error later in the frame.
 
The lead was pushed to four in the third after Schriner drove in Gentile with a sacrifice fly.
 
The scored remained 4-0 until John Carroll tacked on three insurance runs in the ninth. Sabatino extended the lead to five driving in James Molnar with a one-out double. Two batters later, JCU's second baseman scored on a two-out double from Gentile. Huddle added a two-out triple driving in Gentile to cap the scoring.
 
Sabatino led JCU at the plate finishing 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Cifelli, Gentile, Huddle and Mark Pisanello each added two hits in the contest.
 
"Being 2-0 is great, especially in this league," said Thibeault. "By no means does it ensure anything. Today was two games. We played well as a team and we've got to get ready for a very important in-region game versus Ohio Wesleyan."
 
John Carroll is slated to play Ohio Wesleyan in its home opener on Sunday, March 22. First pitch from Schweickert Field is slated for 1 p.m. Stay tuned to www.jcusports.com and the JCU baseball Twitter account (@JCU_Baseball) for any potential weather-related changes.