The John Carroll Baseball team (2-1) is set for their annual trip to the sunshine state over Spring break. During their trip, the Blue Streaks will play a total of eight games against; King's College (2), Muhlenberg College (2), Waynesburg University (1), St. John Fisher College (3). JCU will play seven of their games at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex, 905 Lake Myrtle Park Road, Auburndale, Florida 33823. They will play their one game against Waynesburg University at Chain O' Lakes Complex, 210 Cypress Gardens Blvd., Winter Haven, FL 33880.
The Blue and Gold are fresh off their season opening series down in Beckley, WV against Allegheny College. JCU returned home to University Heights after winning two of three games and tallying 39 total runs. Senior
Aaron Zawadzki will lead the charge for the Blue Streaks after coming off a hot first weekend. Zawadzki hit an even .500 (6 for 12) while driving five runs and scoring five himself. Fellow senior
David Ferguson also brought the offense for the Blue and Gold. Ferguson hit .462 (6 for 13) drove in four runs while crossing home five times. Sophomore pitcher
Jack Bennett actually led the team in runs batted in on the weekend with six. Bennett, as well as
Riley Pavlik and
Kasey Anzelc were perfect from the mound tossing a combined five innings and allowing zero earned runs. Junior
John Merrill may have turned in the best individual pitching performance for the Blue Streaks as he went five innings allowing only one earned run while punching out four.
King's College is the first team on the slate for John Carroll with the games taking place on Sunday March 1 at 2:30 and 5:30 PM. The Monarchs enter the contest at 2-0 on the young season by handling Clarks Summit University 21-1 and 16-0. A season ago King's College posted a 17-19 record overall including a 2-8 record on a neutral site. John Carroll has only played the Monarchs twice before when they faced off in March of 2018 with both contests residing with King's College (2-5, 1-5).
Up next for the Blue Streaks on Monday March 2 at 2:30 PM and 5:30 PM will be Muhlenberg College. The Mules enter the week at 2-1 with wins over Gwynedd Mercy (6-4) and Gallaudet (15-4). Their lone loss thus far came to Stevenson in a close one, 9-8. The Mules turned out a 20-19 record in 2019 with a 6-4 record in neutral site contests. This will be the first meeting ever between the two programs.
The third opponent for the Blue Streaks will be Waynesburg University in a single game contest on Tuesday March 3 at 9:00 AM. The Jackets are yet to begin their 2020 campaign, as it will commence on March 1 against fellow OAC opponent, Ohio Northern. In 2019, the Jackets went 21-19 with a 6-6 record on neutral fields. This will be the third meeting overall between the two programs. The two teams split their series (10-3, 1-2) last season in Davenport, FL.
The final opponent for the Blue Streaks is St. John Fisher College. JCU will play the Cardinals on Friday March 6 at 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM, as well as Saturday March 7 at 9:30 AM. The Cardinals are currently 2-0 on the season and ranked #19 in the country according to d3baseball.com. Both of their wins came against #14 at the time, John's Hopkins, 6-2 and 13-7. A season ago the Cardinals went 29-14, including 7-3 at neutral sites. The Blue and Gold are 0-3 all-time against St. John Fisher with the most recent defeat coming last season 9-15.
John Carroll will return to University Heights for a week of classes before they travel to Fredricksburg, VA for a three game weekend series against the University of Mary Washington on March 13-15.
