John Carroll baseball punched the final ticket to the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament on Sunday with a victory over Capital University at Schweickert Field in University Heights, Ohio.

The 13-3 win in game one of the doubleheader guarantees the Blue Streaks the fourth seed in this week's postseason battle. JCU won game two, 8-4, after a four-run fourth.

Before the game, the Blue Streaks honored nine seniors: Rob Cifelli, David Crowley, Tyler Gentile, first base coach Donny Gress, Aaron Lapaglia, Brandon Maddern, student manager Sophia Olson, Mark Pisanello and Jacob Schriner.

The seniors would make the most out of their final doubleheader in University Heights, going a combined 15-for-31 at the plate with 13 RBI. Lapaglia and Maddern added 12 innings of  work, giving up just three.  

GAME ONE

John Carroll scored seven in the first three innings to run away with a 13-3 victory in game one.

The senior trio of Cifelli, Schriner and Crowley went 9-for-13 with three hits each at the top of the lineup. Crowley, Gentile and Schriner each drove in three runs in the victory.
Lapaglia fired a complete game five-hitter to move to 5-3 on the year. He gave up just two earned runs and struck out three batters.

JCU started the scoring with a RBI single to right field by Crowley. Gentile then hit a ball two feet from the top of the center field fence, and was thrown out stretching for a triple. Crowley scored on the play.

In the second, Capital scored two on a triple to right center and a groundout. After the triple, Lapaglia would retire 11 of the next 12 batters. In the next frame, Crowley came up big again, driving home two on a single through the right side.

JCU plated a trio in the third inning, with the first coming on a fielder's choice hit by Max Argento. Cifelli brought home Scholla on a sacrifice fly, and Schriner punched a double down the right field line to score the third. A wild pitch extended the lead to 8-2 in the fifth.

Schriner struck again in the seventh, as he followed up a Cifelli double with a single through the left side that sent the centerfielder home as the ninth run. Gentile blasted a two-run single to make it 11-2. An infield single from Mittiga and Schriner single to right field capped off the scoring at 13-2.

John Carroll went 11-19 against right-handed pitching in the win. JCU tagged Tyler Spears, Brendan Borkey and Patrick Avellano for 10 runs on 13 hits. Joseph Borkey experienced more success (4-19), but still allowed four runs in his 4 ? innings. Spears (0-5) finished his season with the loss.

The Blue Streaks were stellar with runners on base, going 11-of-24 for a .458 average. On the other side, Lapaglia held the Crusaders to a .250 mark (2-8).

GAME TWO

John Carroll capped off a masterful Senior Day performance with an 8-4 victory in game two.

Brandon Maddern threw a solid three innings in the starting role, allowing just two baserunners. He struck out four of the 11 Crusaders he faced. In relief, Drew Vargo (3-4) earned the victory after two innings. He allowed one run. Steven Virost and Nathaniel Wenson also made appearances on the mound.

Crowley continued his torrid pace at the plate, going 3-for-4 with 2 RBI. Patrick Keohane was 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Gentile drove home another.

Another quick start from JCU  set the stage for the victory; the Blue Streaks scored eight in the first four innings. Crowley drove home a run, and then a  double play plated the second.

The third and fourth innings were key for JCU, as the squad amassed six runs on six hits in the two frames. Gentile made it 3-0 on a single to right field, and a wild pitch made it 4-0 a few batters later. In the fourth, JCU plated four on a key sequence. Crowley's single to right  scored Cifelli. An error in right field led to two runs in Gentile's at-bat. Finally, Keohane's single scored Gentile.

At that point, things seemed out of reach. However, Capital scored two in the sixth and one in the eighth before Pisanello put out the fire to end the inning. Mark Materise entered and slammed the door.

JCU improves to 19-20 and 11-7 in the OAC, and will await the date and time of their first round matchup in the OAC Tournament.