Baseball is a game of execution.
 
Backed by the middle of its batting order and extended opportunities in the fourth inning the John Carroll University baseball team pushed its program-best win streak to 13 on Wednesday afternoon. John Carroll topped host Allegheny 8-2 in Meadville, Pa.
 
A rarity occurred in the bottom of the first as John Carroll did not score first. Allegheny laced back-to-back one-out hits before Joe Killian hit a sacrifice fly to knock in the game's first run.
 
John Carroll responded with a run of its own in the top of the second to tie the score. Mark Huddle hit an opposite field single and would do the rest of the work on his own. The shortstop stole second prior to advancing to third on a wild pitch. Freshman Mike Raschilla drove in Huddle with an RBI groundout.
 
The Blue Streaks' extended the inning in the fourth to open a 4-1 lead. Tyler Gentile reached on a wild pitch strikeout with two outs to extend the inning. Raschilla, the team's top mid-week RBI producer of late, hooked in a single down the right field line to make the score 2-1. JCU loaded the bases with David Lykens reaching on catcher's interference. Jacob Schriner reached on a two-out error allowing the other two runs in the frame to score.

"They got two quick outs and then that whole thing started," said head coach Marc Thibeault. "Our team stayed in the at bats and didn't give up. They worked the counts and fortunately we were able to plate a couple of runs to give some separation for Anthony to work with. That was a turning point in the game, the wild pitch gave us some momentum."
 
John Carroll pushed its lead to 5-1 in the sixth. Huddle started the inning reaching on an error and would advance to third on Raschilla's second hit of the game. Lykens plated the run with a sacrifice fly to left field.
 
The Gators scored their second run of the game in the sixth. Jacob Shick scored on a two-out error from Raschilla. The third baseman did prevent a hit earlier in the frame with his second diving stop of the game.
 
John Carroll matched the run in the seventh to make it a 6-2 advantage. Gentile roped a payoff two-out pitch down the left field line to bring in Rob Cifelli.
 
The diamond men added two more runs in the ninth. Gentile blooped in a one-out single to center to bring in Bobby Sabatino. Pinch hitter Mark Pisanello forced in the second run of the inning being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
 
Anthony Libertini (2-0) was sharp in his second start of the year. The right-hander fired six innings allowing five hits. The senior allowed two runs, one earned and struck out three.

"Anthony did a really good job," said Thibeault. "We were thinking where he's been at, with the start in Florida and then coming out of the bullpen, that 60 was probably a good number of pitches for him. He went past that and jumped up to 84. He was extremely effective and the good thing was he was stronger as he went on."
 
Kyle Witkowski and Mark Materise worked one-two-three innings in the seventh and eighth respectively. Aaron Lapaglia surrendered a leadoff single in the ninth but retired the next three Gator hitters.

"Of the last 10 hitters of the game, nine didn't reach base," said Thibeault. "We did a good job defensively and filling up the strike zone. We were ahead in a majority of those at bats and were able to throw our pitch and not the pitch we had to throw."
 
JCU's four through six hitters combined for seven hits, five runs and four RBIs on the day.

Said Thibeault, "We had a couple of really good hits in those spots that really helped us. Those guys did a good job. It was more impressive that most were with two strikes with runners in scoring position. That is something we've tried to stress. To be able to do that today against a quality non-league opponent was really good to see."

John Carroll improved to 15-3 on the year while Allegheny fell to 7-9.
 
The Blue Streaks are back in action on Friday, April 3. John Carroll hosts No. 23 Ohio Northern in a key OAC doubleheader. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. For the latest updates to the John Carroll baseball schedule please consult www.jcusports.com or follow the team's Twitter account (@JCU_Baseball).