Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Short memories were in tall order for the John Carroll softball team Saturday afternoon at Bracken Field.

After suffering the worst loss in program history in the opening game of a doubleheader against league rival Muskingum University, the Blue Streaks showed amazing resliency and turned the tables in the nightcap.

In a day that marked the home and conference opener for John Carroll, game one could not have been a more demoralizing affair.

The final score would say it all.

37-1.
 
By far, the most lopsided loss in JCU softball history.
 
Senior Rachel Byrnes took the circle to start things off, but bad omens were almost immediately present. A one out, two-run home run from Muskingum designated hitter Jessica Matthews opened the scoring for first frame. 
 
John Carroll junior first baseman Alyssa Coleman would answer with a double, and would score from second after a single by sophomore catcher Carly Simecek in the bottom of the first. That one run would be the only run for John Carroll.

From that point on, it would be all Muskingum.

Byrnes would surrender six runs in the first 2 1/3 innings before being pulled, but the Fighting Muskies had yet begun to truly roll.  

The fourth inning was when matters got out of hand. Muskingum would plate 22 runs -- four shy of tying an NCAA Division III single inning record -- to push its lead to 30-1. The Muskies tacked on seven more in the top of the fifth before the game finally met the mercy run rule criteria after the bottom of the fifth.
 
Despite giving up a program record 37 runs, head coach Nicole Loudin may have done her finest piece of coaching in getting the Blue Streaks to put that game behind them quickly and focus on the nightcap.

Responding to the challenge was first-year pitcher Ann Marie Kirchner, as the sophomore held an offense that just plated 37 runs on 27 hits in game one to a single run on eight hits in game two. 

Also responding was Simecek, who belted a three-run first inning homer and finished the contest with five RBI to help the Blue Streaks take game two, 9-1.

JCU scored three times in the first and six more in the second inning to plate all the runs they would need. Lauren Cianciolo and Simecek each scored two runs, and Angie Zappitelli added two RBI to help the Blue Streaks earn the split.

Kirchner made the early lead stand by allowing just one run in the fourth frame. She struck out two and walked one in her five innings.

John Carroll is now 9-3 overall and 1-1 in the OAC, while Muskingum's record stands at 8-8 and 1-1 in league play following the conclusion of action today.