With a chance to finish with its best record in Florida since 2012, the John Carroll softball team cashed in with a sweep of a pair of teams from Minnesota Friday.
In the morning, the Blue Streaks scored four times in the first inning to lead to a 7-4 win over Northwestern College, then outlasted St. Mary's College, 6-5, in the afternoon.
The Blue Streaks finished their ten-game set in the Sunshine State with a record of 8-2. It was their best showing since a 9-1 mark in 2012 that led to the program's first NCAA Division III Championship appearance.
Hannah Mizener had four hits (one double) and two runs, and
Carly Simecek added three hits in three official at bats.
In the game against St. Mary's,
Rachel Byrnes earned her fifth win of the season in relief, Simecek went 2-3 and drove in three runs.
The numbers from John Carroll's time in Florida are impresive. Simecek finished with a team-best .560 batting average, going 14-25 with12 RBI, Â three doubles, one triple and three home runs.
Lauren Cianciolo batted .394 with 13 hits, 15 runs and seven stolen bases. Mizener posted a .367 batting average with eight RBI, nine runs and three hoe runs.
Also batting over .300 were
Angie Zappitelli (.364),
Christie Wade (.345),
Alyssa Coleman (.314) and
Ally Kleinhans (.313).
As a team, John Carroll batted .310 for the week, scoring 54 runs, and slugging 17 doubles, two triples and eight home runs while swiping 20 bases in 22 attempts.
