As the John Carroll softball season comes to an end, the Blue Streaks had a chance to send their seniors off in style at Bracken Field.
The Blue and Gold swept the Pioneers, winning game one, 8-0, and game two, 5-4. JCU finish their season at 17-17 and 9-9 in the OAC, while Marietta's regular season record comes to 21-18 and 10-8 in the OAC.
GAME ONE
The Blue Streaks put together a day to remember with an 8-0 victory in game one.
Christie Wade and
Carly Simecek each homered, as JCU finished off the Pioneers in five innings.
AnnMarie Kirchner improved to 8-5 in her final start of the season.
The talents of the seniors were on full display, as all four players reached base safely in their first at-bat.
After a
Lauren Cianciolo double and Simecek walk, Wade got the party started with a blast down the left field line that landed in Schweickert Field.
In an emotional moment, Kleinhans stepped to the plate for the first time since May 1, 2015. She smacked the ball to right field for a single, and was lifted for a pinch-runner to thunderous applause from the John Carroll faithful. She would go 1-3 in the contest.
Kirchner punched a single to center field that scored pinch runner
Olivia Schweiger.
In the next inning, Simecek's double to the left-center fence scored Cianciolo and
Hannah Mizener. Wade followed it up with a single that scored Simecek.
Simecek added the exclamation point with a home run to right-center in the fourth.
Kirchner was stellar in five innings, allowing three baserunners. She struck out six. Cianciolo, Simecek and Wade each had two hits. The seniors combined for a 4-for-10 mark with four RBI in the first game.
GAME TWO
Senior magic was still in the air going into game two as
Alyssa Coleman started the Blue Streaks scoring in the second inning with a run scored on a couple Marietta errors.
The senior also supplied three runs with one hit as she bombed a hit over the center field fence to put John Carroll up 4-1.
Marietta's Jocelyn White singled up the middle during the fourth inning, scoring two runs. Then, two batters later, Brianna Finck reached base on a JCU error, which also scored White to even out the score at four.
However, three back-to-back singles scored
Maggie Gannon for the go-ahead run.
In the top of the fifth, Cianciolo saved the inning with a huge diving catch in center field to prevent the Pioneers from scoring anymore.
Brianna Lach (5-7) is the winner pitcher, while White takes the loss for the Pioneers making her pitching record 7-8.
