On Sunday, April 24 the John Carroll University Baseball Team traveled once again to be the “home” team.

John Carroll’s home field in University Heights was not playable, so the Blue Streaks traveled to Ashland to play the Marietta College Pioneers. 

Despite some offensive highlights, the Blue Streaks’ home record fell to 7-2 as they dropped both games of an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader against the No. 1 team in the country, Marietta College. 

Game 1: Marietta, 13-7

Mitchell Midea ‘22 started game one on the mound for the Blue Streaks. The senior leads the team and OAC in strikeouts and is 25 strikeouts away from the single season record, which would make him the career leader as well. The game started well for Midea, as he started with three scoreless innings. 

The Blue Streaks won the first three innings after an RBI groundout from Ben Surman ‘22, which scored Joe Olsavsky ‘24 after he started the day with a triple. However, the Blue Streaks would not score again until the ninth inning off of the OAC leader in wins, Trent Valentine. 

The highly touted Pioneer offense finally scored in the fourth inning on a walk, double, and a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1.

Midea had a 1-2-3 5th inning, but the Blue Streaks could not add on. In the sixth inning, the game broke open in favor of Marietta. The Pioneers scored six runs on four hits and five walks. Midea’s final line was 5+ innings, four strikeouts, six walks, and seven earned runs on six hits.

John Carroll pitcher Owen Gerba ‘25 came in with the bases loaded but surrendered a bases-clearing triple that just got past first baseman Justin Hanley ‘22. After two walks and a fielder’s choice, Garrett Siegel ‘22 entered the game and got the final two outs of the sixth. 

After the Blue Streak offense stranded graduate student Luke Galioto at third, Siegel pitched a scoreless seventh after a double play and strikeout. The Pioneers added on in the top of the eighth. After a bloop double and two singles, Matt Campbell ‘25 entered the game on the mount for John Carroll. 

Unfortunately, the change was not enough to stop the Pioneers as they finished the inning with five runs on five hits and two walks to make it 13-1.

The Blue Streaks’ offense caught fire in the bottom of the ninth, scoring six runs on six hits highlighted by a home run by Joe Olsavsky. The homer was JCU’s 34th of the season, breaking the single season school record set back in 2010. 

The final score was 13-7, with the Blue Streaks getting 11 hits, but were hurt by the 12 walks from five JCU pitchers.  

Game 2: Marietta, 11-6

To start game two, John Carroll scored first once again on a sac fly by Galioto. Unfortunately, it did not take long for Marietta to respond against Blue Streak starter Matthew Aukerman ‘23. 

Behind six hits, including two doubles and a three run home run, the Pioneers scored six runs in the second to take a 6-1 lead. Hanley answered with a no-doubt homer of his own in the bottom half for the Blue Streaks, but Marietta hit a two-run homer and RBI single in the third to make it 9-1. Marietta would score two more in the fourth to bring on Sylvan Wiley ‘24 to pitch for John Carroll. 

After a scoreless bottom of the fourth for JCU they brought in graduate student Andrew Steele. Steele would flourish going four scoreless innings of relief with a strikeout. A bases-loaded double by Erik Daugenti ‘24 and another RBI from Hanley would make it 11-6 in the fifth inning, but that would be the final score. 

Senior Sam Matthews of Marietta got a four inning save, his OAC leading 12th of the season. The Blue Streaks left three runners on base with Matthews on the mound. Joe Smith ‘22 pitched a scoreless ninth, but the offense went down 1-2-3 in the ninth. 

John Carroll moves to 15-15 on the year and 9-5 in the OAC which puts them fourth in the conference standings. John Carroll faces Otterbein and No. 12 Baldwin Wallace in the last two conference doubleheaders of the season, the two teams directly ahead of them in the standings. This year the top four seeds make the OAC double-elimination tournament. 

“We still have everything in front of us. We have six non-conference games to stay sharp and get quality wins, and four conference games with the opportunity to win our way into the postseason,” said Ben Surman ’22. “You want to win every game, but we proved if we limit their big innings and our mistakes, we can play with any team in the country.”

The Blue Streaks won or tied 12 of the 18 innings played, but were hurt by the walks and damage by the Pioneer offense, which had the best team batting average in the entire NCAA going into Sunday. 

John Carroll plays Hiram Wednesday, April 27, and on Thursday, April 28. 

Thursday’s game will be at Progressive Field, home of MLB’s Cleveland Guardians. 

Their next conference matchup will be at Otterbein on Saturday, April 30, and the Blue Streaks hope to host Senior Day at Schweikert Field on Sunday, May 1 against Wooster. 

“I am so thrilled for us to play at Progressive Field,” said John Carroll Baseball’s Head Coach Bobby Bell. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our student-athletes. We’re blessed to play in such a gorgeous venue. I know our players can’t wait to step onto the grass and play where the pros do.”