Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Friday's message was to take it one game at a time.
 
John Carroll warded off elimination knocking off No. 5/7 Baldwin Wallace in the first game of the day 3-2. Marietta walked-off in the second elimination game 9-8 knocking John Carroll out of the OAC Tournament.
 
Game One
John Carroll 3, No. 5/7 Baldwin Wallace 2
 
The John Carroll University baseball team entered play on Friday looking for an early spark. Enter Mark Huddle.
 
The senior shortstop mashed a two-out, three-run homer in the top of the first inning to jolt John Carroll to a 3-0 lead after a half inning.
 
The lead would hold as key defense late led to a 3-2 win over No. 5/7 Baldwin Wallace.
 
John Carroll jumped on Baldwin Wallace starter Evan Lovick from the start. Bobby Sabatino blasted a one-out single up the middle. Tyler Gentile laced a two-out single through the left side to set the stage for Huddle.
 
The Blue Streaks threatened in just about every inning with two batters reaching base in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings but John Carroll could not extend its lead.

Baldwin Wallace kept nibbling as well but was held off the scoreboard until the fifth. Cole Nieto connected on the third-straight Yellow Jackets hit to bring in Jerry Scholle. Junior right-hander Aaron Lapaglia was able to pick Nieto off at first and induce an inning-ending groundout to minimize the damage.
 
The Yellow Jackets made things interesting in the eighth. Baldwin Wallace laced three straight hits to start the frame. The last from Hunter Handel allowed Kyle Chontos to score on the play making it a 3-2 game.
 
JCU's bullpen came through.
 
Sophomore Drew Vargo retired the two batters he faced and Jake Servidio induced a ground out for the final out of the frame.
 
Leading the charge defensively in the eighth was freshman Mike Raschilla.
 
Baldwin Wallace's Zach Ferster attempted the suicide squeeze to tie the game. Raschilla, charging hard shoveled the ball to catcher Jacob Schriner in time to tag out Mark Zimmerman on the play.
 
Schriner came through in the bottom of the ninth inning. Scholle led off the ninth with a single but was nailed by JCU's backstop trying to swipe second.
 
Lapagalia improved to 5-1 with the win. The junior right-hander allowed two runs on nine hits in seven-plus innings. Servidio picked up his third save of the year firing 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
 
Gentile and Raschilla each finished with two hits at the plate.
 
Game Two
Marietta 9, John Carroll 8
 
Sometimes placement is everything.
 
Marietta's Christian Demko was jammed on a pitch from Servidio with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Pioneers' shortstop was able to place a slow, high chopper about 30 feet down the third base line to leg out an infield single giving Marietta the walk-off 9-8 win.
 
John Carroll led for most of the game but could not closeout a hard-charging Marietta squad.
 
John Carroll did strike early again. Sabatino drilled a one-out double in the top of the first. He would come in on a two-out single from Gentile.
 
The Blue Streaks loaded up the based in the second. Schriner led off the frame with a walk and advanced to third on singles from Monroe Donnelly and Raschilla. James Molnar plated Schriner with an RBI groundout. John Carroll was unable to capitalize only pushing one run across in the frame.
 
Marietta briefly took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the second. The Pioneers received triples from Tyler Packanik and Brandon Papp in the frame. Demko added an RBI double to push the third run of the frame across.
 
John Carroll answered right back with three runs of its own to make it 5-3. Schriner led the rally with a two-out single to bring in David Crowley. Donnelly chased Schriner around with a two-out triple to right center. The JCU designated hitter came in on Raschilla's two-out single.
 
The Blue Streaks pushed their lead to three in the fourth. Rob Cifelli led off the inning with a single and came in to score on a Marietta double play.
 
John Carroll made it an 8-3 game in the sixth. Cifelli led off the frame with a single and would score on Sabatino's triple. The triple, Sabatino's 70th hit of the season set a new single-season John Carroll record. The senior second baseman passed Chet Lauer's mark of 69 set last season. Crowley knocked a sacrifice fly to right field to bring in Sabatino.
 
Marietta climbed back into the game with a run in the sixth and two in the seventh. The Pioneers loaded the bases in the sixth but were held to one run. Marietta stranded two more runners in the seventh.
 
Marietta tied the game at eight in the bottom of the eighth. The Pioneers scored a pair of runs on Chris Winpigler's two-out, two-run single.
 
Vargo fell to 0-2 with the loss. Offensively, JCU was led by Raschilla's three hits.
 
John Carroll must wait and see if it will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The field will be announced sometime after 12 a.m. on Monday, May 11. John Carroll's record stands at 25-16 after its loss in the OAC Tournament.