John Carroll baseball began embracing the idea of a southern "spring training trip" as early as 1976 when the Blue Streaks traveled south to face fellow Jesuit institution Spring Hill University in Alabama.

The idea expanded as Dr. Jerry Schweickert began to land games to fill out an entire week, playing as many as 11 games at one point to settling for a more realistic seven or eight games by the middle of the 1980's.

The one constant to these trips was a losing record. Playing southern teams on their turf was usually recipe for a disadvantageous match-up. In 1979, JCU was 1-8. In 1980, the Blue Streaks went 1-5, and in 1981, probably the low point, JCU lost all 11 games.

The turning point happened in 1985.

The year after John Carroll made its first NCAA postseason appearance, the Blue Streaks had the talent - and especially the pitching staff - to be competitive with the boys from the south.

Carroll News sports editor Dan Krane authored this piece on what was John Carroll's most successful spring trip to date:

Justified optimism is probably the single most noticeable feature of the 1985 Blue Streak baseball team. The Carroll men began their season last week during Spring vacation and have returned from their annual "southern trip" with an unprecedented 5-3 record. Carroll had never broken the .500 mark in its previous trips and this year's strong play against powerhouses such as Division I Duke. Methodist and St. Andrews certainly bodes well for their chances in the heart of their schedule yet to come.

The Streaks began the week with an eye-opening 13-5 loss to North Carolina Wesleyan followed by an equally humiliating 18-4 loss to Methodist. Shaky defense in particular posed a problem for the Carroll men as they fell short of their much more experienced opponents in these initial two attempts.

Things began to turn around for the Streaks in their second game against Methodist as consistent offensive output and more coordinated defense combined to give John Carroll a 5-4 victory. The Streaks went on to split a doubleheader against St. Andrews the following day. In the first game, the Carroll men watched an eight point lead erode away and end in a 17-13 defeat but come back in the second game to post a 16-6 win and begin what would be a four game winning streak. St. Andrews fell to the Streaks once again the following day, this time by a score of 8-3.

The Division I Blue Devils of Duke University were Carroll's next victim as they lost by a score of 4-1. The venture was the first time the Streaks had won at Duke (they had lost 14-1 the year before) and resulted in no small part from what head coach Jerry Schweickert described as "one of the bst pitched games I've ever seen - Brian Clarke could have beaten anyone that day."

Last to face the Streaks was Pembroke State which lost 9-6 to what had become an almost unstoppable Carroll team. Excellent offensive performances characterized the play that brought the-Streaks five wins in their last six games. The Blue Streaks currently boast an exceptional .330 team batting average while junior Bill Hathaway leads all individuals with an average of .424.