Starting today the next six scheduled games for the John Carroll University baseball team take place against ranked teams or teams receiving votes in the latest D3baseball.com Top 25 Poll.

John Carroll swept visiting Otterbein 12-5, 11-1 on Saturday afternoon at Schweickert Field. The Blue Streaks improved to 18-5, 7-1 OAC with the wins while the Cardinals fell to 15-7, 4-4 OAC. John Carroll stands in sole possession of first place in the conference after the wins.

Game One

John Carroll 12, Otterbein 5

Minimize the damage. John Carroll did just that in the first game and would take the 12-5 decision.

Otterbein would get its leadoff runner on in each of the first seven innings bout would only come away with five runs.

Said Thibeault, "That's something we have to do a better job. Whether it was a walk or a base hit, most of the time we were ahead in the count and then we didn't really get aggressive. We didn't throw a really good 0-2 or 1-2 type pitch. That team's won 15 games. They are pretty good. For them to do that and then for us to play really sound defense was key. We responded to those situations and to walk out with the win is big."

John Carroll struck first in the first inning. The Blue Streaks immediately put pressure on Otterbein starter Adam Collier. Rob Cifelli drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on Bobby Sabatino's double to left center. Cifelli scored on Tyler Gentile's sacrifice fly. Mark Huddle added a two-out single to right to plate Sabatino.

Otterbein scored its first run of the game in the third. Taylor Hutchison laced a one-out double down the right field line to plate Ty Compton.

John Carroll answered back with two in the third to extend its lead to 4-1. The Blue Streaks had déjà vu with Cifelli reaching via a walk and Sabatino ripping his second double of the game. The difference was Cifelli would score on Sabatino's hit. Sabatino scored on Gentile's RBI groundout to push the lead to three.

The Cardinals threatened in the top of the fourth with two of the first three batters reaching base. Jacob Schriner sailed an attempted pickoff throw into the outfield. An alert Cifelli quickly picked up the ball to nail Hutchison at third.

JCU extended its lead to 5-2 in the fifth. Cifelli doubled to left center to start the frame. The center fielder came in to score on David Crowley's RBI groundout.

Otterbein made it a one-run game in the sixth. Peyton Ross came in to score on an error before Compton punched through a single.

John Carroll answered back with two runs in the bottom of the frame to make it a 7-4 game. Huddle and Mike Raschilla started the frame with back-to-back doubles. Raschilla would come in to score on Cifelli's two-out single.

Otterbein cut the lead to two in the seventh. The Cardinals had the first two batters reach for the third straight inning. John Carroll did a good job limited the damage with the run coming in on Ross' groundout.

John Carroll recorded two runs in the bottom of the seventh to make it a 9-5 game. Crowley led off the frame with a single up the middle. He would round the bases as Gentile blasted a triple to the right center fence. Huddle kept the rally going with his fourth hit of the game flaring a single into center.

The Blue Streaks put the game out of reach with three in the eighth. Cifelli started the inning with a single. He would eventually come around to score on a wild pitch. Sabatino trotted across on an error with Gentile capping the inning scoring on a dropped third strike throw down to first.

Huddle led the diamond men at the plate. The senior finished 4-for-5 with a pair of RBIs. Cifelli went 3-for-3 with four runs scored and two walks.

Brandon Maddern picked up the win to move to 3-2 on the year. The junior left-hander fired 5 2/3 innings allowing three earned runs on nine hits. Kyle Witkowski and Aaron Lapaglia combined to throw 3 1/3 innings out of the pen.

Game Two

John Carroll 11, Otterbein 1

Two-out hitting is key.

Backed by five runs with two outs in the bottom of the first, John Carroll rolled to an 11-1 win in the second game of the twin bill.

Crowley and Gentile started the rally in the bottom of the first with back-to-back two-out singles.

JCU loaded the bases with Huddle being hit by the pitch. Raschilla put the diamond men on the board with a two-run bloop single to center. JCU made the score 3-0 with David Lykens legging out an infield hit that was coupled with an Otterbein error allowing Huddle to score on the play.

"It was huge," said Thibeault. "Our first two guys made an out. A lot was just a result of putting the ball in play and running hard 90s. It's something we preach to the guys all of the time. We strung some hits together and won pitches one at a time. To be able to get five is big in this league. That's for sure, especially in the first inning."

Jacob Schriner's two-out single and Lykens scoring on a passed ball rounded out the scoring in the first.

Drew Doring returned to dominant form. The senior right-hander cruised through the first two innings recording five strikeouts. He would fire eight strong innings allowing one run on four hits. Doring struck out a career-high 14 batters.

"He did a good job," said Thibeault. "He had three pitches going for strikes. His changeup really kept Otterbein off balance. It made his fastball more explosive. The big thing was we spotted him that five-run lead. That's just an experienced type pitcher going out there and filling up the zone. He trusted his defense and if he gets his strikeout he gets it. If not, we made plays behind him and we were able to keep his pitch count down for eight innings."

Otterbein scored its lone run in the third inning. Hutchison laced a two-out single for the Cardinals' first hit of the contest to plate Brock Frentzel.

John Carrol made it a 6-1 game in the fourth. Crowley and Raschilla both reached on errors. Raschilla drove in his third run of the game lacing a one-out single into right center.

The lead was pushed to 8-1 in the fifth as JCU capitalized on a pair of errors. James Molnar and Cifelli reached on errors to start the inning. Sabatino knocked Molnar in with a single before Gentile hit a sacrifice fly to plate Cifelli.

JCU scored three more in the sixth to break the game wide open. Raschilla started the inning with his third hit of the game. He would score on Schriner's fielder's choice. Sabatino knocked in the other two runs with a two-out single.

Raschilla led the Blue and Gold at the plate. The freshman finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Sabatino also added three hits and three RBIs.

John Carroll is slated to return to action with a 1 p.m. twin bill at Baldwin Wallace on Monday. For the latest baseball schedule consult www.jcusports.com or the JCU baseball Twitter account (@JCU_Baseball).