Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The John Carroll Blue Streaks softball team at long last opened up its 2018 home schedule with a 4-0 win in University Heights this afternoon against the Fightin' Quakers of Wilmington.

Today's wins marked the Blue Streaks first home opener sweep since 2011.

Game 1 - JCU 4, Wilmington 0

The Blue Streaks compiled ten hits on offense and had no errors defensively which contributed to a crisp and clean performance for the Blue and Gold across the board.

In addition to a strong offensive performance, JCU had a quality shutout performance from their starting pitcher, Jenn Patterson. The sophomore led the Blue Streaks to a complete game, seven inning effort in which she only allowed four total hits in the performance. She took a no hitter into the third inning, until Kaylee Barber broke it up with a single to right field. She faced 27 batters during her outing, and only walking two batters. Her dominance continued throughout the day with her impressive pitching command which led to five strikeouts.

The John Carroll offense looked alive early on, with an explosive second inning. Quinn Sobieszczanski exemplified her toughness, putting the Blue Streaks on the board for the first time of the day, after being hit by a pitch while the bases were loaded. Miranda Noday then stepped up to the plate, knocking in Maggie Gannon, for an RBI single. The Blue and Gold added those two runs in the bottom second to give themselves a 2-0 lead heading into the third inning.

The Blue Streaks bats stayed quiet for the following two innings, only gathering two hits and no runs scored in the third and fourth innings. John Carroll's bats came alive again in the fifth inning, when Lindsay McKnight hit a monstrous solo home run that towered over the fence in left center field to give the Blue Streaks the 3-0 lead.

Caitlin Fitzsimmons added more damage to the scoreboard with an RBI single up the middle, scoring Lauren Ogurek.

John Carroll's bats remained silent once again for the final inning, after a noisy fifth inning at Bracken Field. JCU only placed one runner on base with the help of Miranda Noday, who singled to center field for her second hit of the day, to go along with her lone RBI. The Blue Streaks also added multi-hit games from Hannah Mizener, and Fitzsimmons.

The Blue and Gold left eight runners on base in the shutout win in game one against Wilmington.


Game 2 - JCU 8, Wilmington 3

The Blue Streaks led an explosive charge on offense in the final game of today's doubleheader against the Fightin Quakers, gathering 13 hits to sweep Wilmington.

Although, the Fightin Quakers made their mark immediately as Sawyer Cooper scored the first run on an RBI groundout to shortstop by Alecia Kemp.

The Blue and Gold were active on the base paths early on, and made a mark of their own, scoring an eventful two runs in the opening inning. Miranda Noday reached first base on a single, and later advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Olivia Schweiger. Lindsay McKinight then reached first base safely, as the shortstop made a careless error. She then stole second base, advancing Noday to third. An error by the Wilmington catcher allowed Noday to tie the game 1-1, and move McKnight onto third.

John Carroll scored consecutive runs immediately with a sacrifice bunt by Hannah Mizener, scoring McKnight. Mizener's efforts caused confusion defensively for Wilmington, allowing her to reach first base safely giving JCU the 2-1 lead.

The Blue Streaks bats fell quiet for the third and fourth innings, before adding two more runs in the fourth. A two RBI double by Caitlin Fitzsimmons, gave the Blue and Gold the 4-2 lead heading into the fifth inning.

The Blue Streaks' bats erupted with an active fifth inning, piling on four runs to give themselves a comfortable 8-2 lead for the final two innings of play. Leading the charge for JCU was Noday, with an extra base hit placing her on second base. Noday then scored thanks to McKnight, as she had an RBI single to right center. Lauren Ogurek, Kelly Geringer, and Jennie Broski all added onto the damage all earning an RBI individually.

Wilmington did their best to rally late and add a charge of their own in the seventh inning with an RBI by Allison Pierce who reached base on her own on a fielder's choice. Scoring was Ali Dixon, who reached base earlier on thanks to an error. Their efforts were not enough, as the Blue Streaks won by a final score of 8-3.

Pitching the bulk of game two was Jessica Cook, throwing six innings walking two batters and only allowing two earned runs. Cook earned her victory, as she impressively struck out six of her 28 batters. Cook has now allowed three runs or fewer in nine of her last ten starts, and two runs or fewer in seven of her last ten starts.

Closing out the pitching efforts for the day was Elizabeth O' Grady, only allowing one hit in the final inning.

Mizener collected two more hits in game two, bringing her career total to 145. That places her ninth all-time for career base hits at John Carroll.

The Blue Streaks softball team will make the quick drive to Berea, Ohio to take on the Yellow Jackets of Baldwin Wallace on Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 pm, it the weather permits.