If John Carroll wanted to leave Ohio Wesleyan's campus with at least one win Thursday afternoon, it would require a little extra effort.

The Blue Streaks went eight innings to pull off a 5-4 victory in game two, salvaging a split of their doubleheader with the host Battling Bishops in a  non-conference twinbill staged in Delaware, Ohio.

"It was a really gritty win in game two," said John Carroll head coach Nicole Loudin. "Jenn (Patterson) dug deep and gutted out a win for us. We battled an ever changing zone and windy conditions all day."

JCU is now 10-8 on the year following the two games played today.

Game One

John Carroll struck first in the top of the third, plating two runs behind RBI hits from Emma Gurley and Quinn Sobieszczanski. Lindsay McKnight then picked up her 100th career hit as a Blue Streak with an RBI in the fourth inning to give the Blue and Gold a 3-0 advantage.

McKnight is the 29th player in JCU softball history to collect 100 career hits.

Starter Jess Cook was zooming along as well, earning six strikeouts through the first four innings to reach 100 for her career, becoming the 13th pitcher in JCU history to hit that milestone.

Alas, Ohio Wesleyan would finally get to Cook in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four times. The Battling Bishops would then tag four more runs (only one earned) off two relievers to put the game out of reach in the sixth.

Crista Nativio had two hits while Miranda Noday had one hit (a double) and a stolen base to lead the JCU offense, which tallied six hits.

Game Two

Once again, it was John Carroll that took the lead early. McKnight drove in a run in the first inning on a sacrifice fly that scored Noday, while Gurley drove in Elizabeth Fraas in the third inning on a single that made the score 2-0.

But Ohio Wesleyan would sneak back into the game with single tallies in the fifth and sixth, tying the score at 2-2 heading to the seventh.

John Carroll appeared to gain control int he top of the seventh when Fraas delivered a two out single to score Noday from third, but again Ohio Wesleyan answered with a run in the bottom of the seventh. The Battling Bishops had runners on second and third with one out, needing just to score one more run to win, but starter Jenn Patterson got a strikeout and induced a weak fly out to get out of the jam.

Utilizing the international tiebreaker rule in the eighth inning, John Carroll navigated two runs home thanks to clutch hitting by Sobieszczanski (sacrifice bunt), Kristen Jesberger (RBI double) and Olivia Schweiger (RBI single) to build a 5-3 lead. 

Patterson then held Ohio Wesleyan to a single run for her sixth victory of the year. Patterson went all eight innings, allowing four runs (three earned) and 13 hits, striking out five and walking just one. 

Fraas, Jesberger, Schweiger and Caitlin Fitzsimmons all had two hits apiece, accounting for right of John Carroll's ten hits.