Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 As the OAC schedule reached the midway point, the John Carroll University baseball team looked to stay in the driver's seat in the conference.
 
Playing in the best Ohio conditions of the season the Blue Streaks rebound to take the second game 7-4 from the Otterbein Cardinals after falling in the first game 5-1.
 
John Carroll's record now stands at 16-8, 8-2 OAC while Otterbein is 16-10, 4-6 OAC.
 
Game One
Aaron Lapaglia fired his third complete game in his last four starts but the John Carroll offense could not string enough hits together to back its sophomore on offense. Otterbein would take the first game 5-1.
 
Otterbein jumped on the board with a run in the first inning. Jake Simmerman drove in Taylor Hutchison with a RBI sacrifice fly for the game's first run. The Cardinals would add a run in the second and third innings to open up a 3-0 lead.
 
John Carroll would score its lone run of the game in the fourth inning.
 
Looking for a big inning JCU loaded the bases. Chet Lauer singled to lead off the innings and was joined by Tyler Gentile who drew a walk. Mark Huddle was hit by a pitch to load the bases. The Blue and Gold scored their run on David Crowley's RBI sacrifice fly.
 
The Cardinals added a run in the fifth and eighth innings.
 
John Carroll threatened to make noise in the ninth inning but could not string the hits together. Bobby Sabatino laced his second hit of the game to give John Carroll two runners with one out but the Blue Streaks were unable to put together the big inning.

"Otterbein really did a good job in the first game," said head coach Marc Thibeault. "Their pitching staff really kept us off balance. We had somewhere in the 15, 16 range of fly balls."
 
Game Two
Brandon Maddern recovered from being drilled by a line drive to work out of a bases loaded jam in the second inning. The offense had its pitcher's back in the third as JCU would go on to come up with the split with the 7-4 win.

"He had that line drive back up the middle and we didn't know what the situation was," said Thibeault. "The way he was able to regroup was pretty impressive. He struck the next kid out. He showed a lot of guts out there to be able to pitch into the seventh inning and give us a chance to win the game."

John Carroll put runners on the corners with one out after a Crowley walk and Robby Cifelli single. The Blue Streaks scored first on a Sabatino RBI single and struck for the rest of the damage with two outs. Jimmy Spagna's single and Lauer's double gave John Carroll an early 3-0 lead.
 
Otterbein would look to strike right back in third inning scoring two runs. The Cardinals were poised to tie the score on Walton's single to left but Mitchell Herringshaw came up firing to cut down Ross at the plate.
 
John Carroll's defense would come through with another big play in the fifth inning. David Lemly scooted a grounder under the glove of Sabatino. With Lemly trying to advance to second Crowely scooped up the loose ball and mowed the freshman down.
 
The Blue and Gold found their offensive rhythm again in the seventh inning with a 4-run inning. JCU put the pressure on Otterbein from the start with Cifelli drawing a leadoff walk. The Blue Streaks put runners on the corners with no outs with Sabatino reached via a throwing error.

Said Thibeault, "We did a really good job adjusting in the second game. The kids regrouped in game two and showed a lot of character."
 
Looking to be aggressive, Cifelli was tagged out on a bang-bang play at the plate trying to score on a wild pitch, but the momentum was with the Blue Streaks.
 
Spagna laced a 1-out double to right center brining across the first two runs of the inning. The senior would come in to score on Lauer's seeing-eye single. Jake Schoch closed out the scoring with a 2-out single through the left side to make it 7-2.
 
Otterbein threatened to have a breakout inning in the bottom of the frame loading the bases up with no outs. The Blue Streaks minimized the damage only allowing two runs to score as the Cardinals cut JCU's lead to 7-4.
 
Maddern improved to 4-1 on the season with the win. The 6-9 sophomore pitched six innings only allowing two earned runs. Anthony Libertini pitched the final three innings for his first save of the season.

"Libertini kept the ball down and was able to throw his pitches for strikes," said Thibeault. "He attacked the ball in the middle of the zone. He came up with the big strike out after walking the first guy. The seventh inning could have turned into a really big inning for them and they only came out with one run (on the sacrifice fly). He really did a good job."
 
Lauer and Spagna led the charge at the plate combining for five hits and five RBIs in the second game, which drew praise from Thibeault.

Said Thibeault, "If you're going to put together a spectacular season which this team is capable of doing you better be able to rely on your more experienced guys and lean on them a little bit to be able to come through in big spots. It really has to be everyone but it's nice when you get the leadership going."

John Carroll travels to Heidelberg on Tuesday, April 15 for a 1 p.m. start.