Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 A little home cooking never hurt anyone.

Playing at home for the first time since last May, the Blue Streaks whipped up some offense and swept the Yellow Jackets at Schweickert Field for the first time since 2011, 7-3 and 8-7.

The Blue Streaks used a big third inning effort in the first game and held on after a close call in the second game, as a near Baldwin Wallace comeback almost prevented the sweep.

"It was good for us to be able to play well against them, with two first place teams battling it out ... two really solid baseball teams played today," head coach Marc Thibeault said. 

Game One

The first game of the doubleheader started quietly enough, as neither team found any runs in the first two innings of baseball this season in University Heights.

The Blue and Gold ended that in the bottom of the third frame with a five-run burst. David Lykens and Mark Huddle started off the inning with back-to-back singles. David Crowley tagged a double over the right fielder's head to score both. Following a Rob Cifelli single, Bobby Sabatino used a sacrifice bunt to score Crowley.

Mitchell Herringshaw kept the offense rolling with an RBI single to center, later scoring on a passed ball. Jimmy Spagna then doubled to right field, leading Yellow Jackets head coach Brian Harrison to pull starter Jon Capadona in favor of Anthony Alioto, Jr. The BW reliever quickly quelled the brewing blowout, ending the inning with two consecutive outs.

The Yellow Jackets threatened in the top half of the fourth, but were not able to respond until the fifth. BW catcher Joe Hiller started off the frame with a single. Materise then hit John Taylor with a pitch and surrendered a single to Brad Gugliotta, which scored Hiller. Mark Zimmerman then knocked a single to right field, scoring both Taylor and Gugliotta. JCU starter Mark Materise finished out the inning, but would be replaced by Billy Turosky in the sixth.

The score remained 6-3 JCU until the eighth, as the Yellow Jackets threatened to score but could not put any runs on the board.
The Blue Streaks added a run in the eighth just to be safe, as Herringshaw received an RBI on a fielder's choice to up JCU's lead to four heading into the final frame.

Turosky allowed a pair of baserunners, as the Yellow Jackets used a single and double to place two runners in scoring position. However, Turosky escaped the potential two-out rally, earning a save and preserving the Blue Streaks win in the process.
Materise received the win, advancing to 3-1 on the year.

Game Two

The Blue Streaks carried the momentum into the second game, posting a pair of runs in the first frame. Cifelli doubled down the right field line to start off the inning. Two batters later, Herringshaw picked up his third RBI of the day on a single down the right field line. The senior scored later in the inning following a Spagna single and two BW errors.

Unlike the first game, the Yellow Jackets answered right away. JCU starter Andrew Doring loaded the bases in the top of the second, allowing a single before surrendering a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Eric Murphy took advantage of the juicy opportunity, shooting a bases-clearing double to right field. Kory Gillissie scored Murphy on the next at-bat, giving BW starter Logan Heffernan another run to work with.

But the two-run lead would not be enough to prevent a comeback by a potent Blue Streaks offense.

Huddle and Crowley initiated a three-run response in the bottom of the second with back-to-back singles. A throwing error allowed not only Cifelli to reach base on the next at-bat, but the error allowed Crowley to score. Herringshaw then added to his RBI total with a two-run single to right center, giving JCU the lead back, 5-4.

After Herringshaw's big hit, the Yellow Jackets ended Herffernan's day early, calling on Cory Durbin to stop the bleeding. Durbin did just that, ending the inning with two straight outs.

The next three stanzas were mostly uneventful, as the two teams only combined for three hits from the third to the fifth.

Things got interesting in the sixth, however, as Doring was hooked after issuing a two-out walk to Hiller. Anthony Libertini came on in relief, allowing a single before picking up the final out of the inning.

Unlike the Yellow Jackets, the Blue Streaks managed to pick up a run in the sixth. JCU utilized a pair of errors to pick up an insurance run, making the score 6-4.

BW did succeed in plating a runner in the top of the seventh. The Yellow Jackets used a pair of hard-to-handle groundballs to sneak a runner past the Blue Streaks and narrow the deficit to one run.

The runs continued to pile on in the bottom of the seventh stanza, even with BW's Brandon Cichocki taking the hill for Durbin. With two outs and the bases empty, Gentile kept the inning alive with a walk. Lykens followed suit with a single to advance Gentile to second. Huddle then hammered a towering shot over Gillissie's head in center field, scoring both Gentile and Lykens. While Cichocki got the last out he needed on the next at-bat, the damage was done, as JCU possessed an 8-5 lead.

Veteran reliever Kevin Rosinski skated through the eighth, but the top of the ninth did not go as smoothly.

Zach Fertser walked to begin the inning, and Roskinski hit Gugliotta with a pitch, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Zimmerman sent a laser shot down the left field line for a double that scored Ferster. With two runners in scoring position, Kyle Chontos singled to right to plate Gugliotta and advance Zimmerman to third. Rosinski then exited the game, as Drew Vargo came in to make his first home appearance.

Vargo made an immediate impact, striking out Hunter Handel for the first out of the inning. Then, in a stunning twist of events, Zimmerman then tried to steal home. Vargo fired the ball to Lauer at the dish to catch Zimmerman stealing.

"Vargo did a great job of stepping off the mound," Thibeault said. "We did a nice job of being calm, collected, and executing the situation. Fortunately for us, we came out on the positive side.

"It was gutsy," Thibeault continued. "You could tell they were going to scratch something at that point to play for the tie. They had tried to pull off a suicide squeeze, luckily we threw a ball at the bottom of the strike zone and he wasn't able to execute."

After the huge swing of momentum, Vargo caused Alex Green to fly out to end the game.

With the victory, the Blue Streaks advanced to 14-7 overall, and 7-1 in OAC play.

The Blue and Gold play again tomorrow at home against Case Western Reserve University at 4 p.m.