It included 17 innings and two dramatic endings, but John Carroll softball earned a split in their final non-conference doubleheader on Sunday.
The Blue Streaks split a doubleheader in an afternoon battle with visiting DePauw by scores of 4-2 and 7-5 at Bracken Field. Junior AnnMarie Kirchner led the team in game one with two hits and a complete game. Senior Alyssa Coleman and sophomore Maggie Gannon took charge in game two with a combined five runs batted in.
In game one, Cianciolo crushed her first home run of the season in the first inning to give Kirchner and the Blue Streaks a 1-0 advantage. Three innings later, the Tigers were able to tie it up at one thanks to a solo home run off the bat of Lauren Gooden, her seventh on the spring.
With the score still tied at one in the top of the fifth inning, Kirchner was able to escape a bases loaded jam thanks to a nice play made by freshman shortstop Lindsay McKnight. The Tigers were able to string together numerous hits, but finished the inning with no runs to show for.
As the first game continued to progress, both Kirchner (JCU) and Erin Baldwin (DePauw) progressively got better. Neither offense could tally any runs in the first seven innings, forcing the game to go to extra innings.
It was not until the ninth inning when the offensive drought was ended for both teams. After DePauw scored in the top half of the inning, John Carroll responded with a run of their own due to an error by the Tiger's third baseman. Heading into the 10th inning, the score stood tied at two.
Once more, the DePauw offense rallied back by scoring a pair of runs to give them a two-run cushion.
In the bottom half of the inning, Cianciolo belted a fly ball to right center field that looked to be a game-tying home run with Kirchner on second base. Kat Panos, the centerfielder for DePauw, dove over the fence to make a game-saving catch and secure the win.
In game two, the Tigers were able to score at least one run in the first four innings. JCU responded in the third inning with three runs of their own thanks to key hits by Coleman and Angie Zappitelli. After four innings of play, the score stood at 5-3 in favor of DePauw.
As the game progressed, the John Carroll offense started to heat up after an RBI single by Zappitelli. With Zappitelli on second after an errant throw, and Coleman on third, Gannon stepped into the box. She unleashed a monstrous three-run homer to left center that sent the JCU bench into a frenzy. JCU now had its first lead of the contest.
The remaining portion of the game was highlighted by the pitching performance of Brianna Lach with three inning of scoreless relief. Game two belonged to John Carroll (15-17).
The Blue Streaks will play their final two regular season games in a doubleheader vs Marietta on Saturday at Bracken Field. The senior day festivities are slated to begin prior to the 1:00 p.m. start time.
