ADA - The third-seeded John Carroll softball team upset No. 4-ranked and top-seeded Ohio Northern to win the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament at the ONU Softball Field Saturday afternoon.

John Carroll improves to 26-15 and wins their first OAC Tournament in program history, never finishing better than third in the past.

Ohio Northern falls to 37-5 overall, but gains a berth into the NCAA Tournament by finishing first in the regular season and advancing to the Tournament finals.

Sophomore Michelle Murphy led the way for JCU by going 2-for-3 with two home runs, three RBIs and three runs scored.

Sophomore Jackie Mangola hit her eleventh homer of the year as she went 2-for-4 while senior Cortney Cash went 2-for-2 with two doubles, an RBI and a walk.

John Carroll got on the board first, scoring two runs in each of the third and fourth innings.

In the third, Murphy led off the inning with her fifth home run of the season. Senior Julie Marlowe singled and advanced to third on an error and a sacrifice bunt before scoring on an RBI single by sophomore Erin Riccardi.

The following inning, junior Angela Vistocco led off with a double and scored on Murphy's second homer in as many innings, pushing the JCU lead to 4-0.

ONU answered back in the fifth. After reaching second on a fielder's choice and an error, freshman Chrissy Rankin scored on an RBI double by senior Cortney Cash. Sophomore Jackie Mangola then hit her second home run of the day to cut the lead to 4-3.

With the help of three Northern errors, JCU was able to score three unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth to push the lead to 7-3. Marlowe picked up the only RBI of the inning on an infield single.

Sophomore Maggie Molnar tossed 2 1/3 innings in relief allowing no earned runs (three unearned) on just two hits and a walk while striking out three.