The John Carroll University baseball team was eliminated from the 2017 Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon, falling in 11 innings to the Marietta College Pioneers at 23rd Street Field in Alliance, Ohio.

The Blue Streaks close out the season at 18-22 following two consecutive losses in the OAC Tournament. Marietta (22-17) advanced to a second elimination game on Friday.

John Carroll jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but the Pioneers slowly chipped away to force extra innings. Drew Vargo threw a strong outing in his final game in a John Carroll uniform, allowing four earned runs in eight innings. Mark Materise (L, 3-2) also saw his final action as a Blue Streak, allowing one run in 2.2 innings.

At the plate, Derek Penman was a perfect 4-for-4 with a RBI. Patrick Keohane and Matthew Donnelly each recorded three hits, and Dominic Mittiga was 2-for-5 with two RBI.

Back-to-back doubles in the first inning allowed the Blue Streaks to take an early three-run lead. Mittiga crushed a ball to center field, scoring Monroe Donnelly and Patrick Keohane. Matthew Donnelly followed suit, sending Mittiga home. Penman hit a double to right field in the third, scoring Matthew Donnelly.

Marietta struck back in the fourth inning on a RBI single to left field. The Pioneers threatened in the sixth, but a diving Aaron Zawadski stop held a runner to just one base, followed by a laser throw from Monroe Donnelly to catch the Pioneers stealing.

In the seventh, Marietta scored once more. Vargo pitched a 1-2-3 eighth before exiting with two runners on in the ninth. A Greg Peffley double scored one run, and a wild pitch brought the tying run home in the bottom of the ninth.

A 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th for Marietta gave JCU one final opportunity to take the lead. Keohane singled to center and advanced to second before David Stover ended the threat. Stover pitched 4.1 innings of relief, allowing two baserunners and striking out three.

In the bottom of the 11th, Marietta had runners in scoring position. The Pioneers appeared to have the game wrapped up on a Greg Peffley shot to left field. Keohane came up firing, and his throw allowed Monroe Donnelly to tag out the winning run at home.

Two batters later, Mike Hale stepped up to the plate and scored Peffley with a liner down the third base line.

Five seniors were in the dugout for their final contests wearing blue and gold on Friday: Materise, James Molnar, Mike Raschilla, Patrick Scholla, and Vargo. The five players accounted for 86 victories in their four years, making the OAC Tournament four times. The quintet played a role in the 2014 OAC Championship, which was the first in JCU history.

Mittiga and Penman were both named to the all-tournament team