John Carroll had held the lead for most of the afternoon, only to have Otterbein come up with some late inning magic to pull the final rabbits out of the hat.

A single run in the bottom of the ninth extended the game, and a single run in the bottom of the tenth ended it as host Otterbein handed the Blue Streaks a 10-9 loss in Westerville.

Box Score

The Cardinals, who just arrived home Saturday after seven wins in 12 games over the past week in Florida, faced the Blue Streaks in a single nine-inning contest after JCU finished its participation in the Muskingum Invitational the day before.

Trailing 2-1 early, John Carroll would take back the lead in the fourth when Joe Veltri (Rochester Hills, MI, Notre Dame Preparatory) came through with a bases loaded single that plated two runs.

After getting another run in the fifth, the Blue Streaks appeared to take command in the top of the sixth inning. RBI hits by Mark Huddle (Penfield, NY, Penfield), Dan Potter (East Aurora, NY, East Aurora) and David Hickey (Stow, OH, Akron St. Vincent - St. Mary) pushed the advantage to 7-2.

But the Cards answered with five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to knot the score at 7-7.

JCU had leads of 8-7 and 9-8 but could make neither stand.

Otterbein won the game with an unearned run in the bottom of the tenth.

The win moves Otterbein to 8-5 on the year, while John Carroll falls to 6-8.Doug Finley (Bermuda Dunes, CA, Xavier College Prep) took the hard luck loss, as neither run he allowed in the ninth or tenth was earned