JWU Baseball Splits Twin Bill With St. Joseph’s of Maine

The Johnson & Wales baseball team split a Great Northeast Athletic Conference double header against St. Joseph's of Maine at Pierce Field on Sunday afternoon.  JWU posted a 5-2 win in the opener with St. Joseph's responding for a 7-0 victory in the nightcap.  In between games, JWU honored seniors Nick Alosco (Mahopac, N.Y.), Mike Murphy (Pawtucket, R.I.), Teddy Katz (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Jason Tsangarides (Meriden, Conn.), Matt Newsome (Providence, R.I.), Mike Toussaint (North Windham, Conn.), Nick Marine (Bristol, R.I.), Matt Yaeger (Glendale, Ariz.) and Bryan Sayers (Chelmsford, Mass.).

In the opener, JWU got on the board first in the bottom of the third when Yaeger reached on a single and scored on a double by Katz.  Katz later scored on an RBI groundout by sophomore Pete Rosa (Ambler, Pa.), giving JWU the 2-0 advantage.  St. Joseph's cut into the lead in the top of the fourth as senior Ian Lee (Hampden, Maine) drew a walk and came around to score on a double play later in the inning to make the score 2-1.  JWU broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth as they tallied three runs, including a two run triple by Katz to take the 5-1 lead.  The visiting Monks threatened in the top of the seventh as they capitalized on a JWU miscue, trimming the lead to just three runs.  It would not be enough, however as the Wildcats held on for the 5-2 victory with junior Marc Sommerhalter (Emerson, N.J.) recording his second save of the season with two thirds of an inning of scoreless relief.  Marine notched the win for JWU, going six and a third innings, allowing one earned run on eight hits with two strikeouts.  Yeager was 3-for-4 with a run scored while Katz went 3-for-4 with three RBI in the victory for JWU.  Sophomore Zach Boyes (West Warwick, R.I.) was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for the Wildcats.  Sophomore Mike Pratt (Dartmouth, Mass.) was 1-for-2 with an RBI while junior Dan Brown (Portland, Maine) added a pair of hits in the setback for the Monks.

The nightcap saw St. Joseph's of Maine score all the runs they would need in the first inning as they plated three runs, including an RBI single by Lee.  The Monks added two more in the fourth and two more in the sixth en route to the 7-0 victory.  Lee was 3-for-3 with a run and two RBI in the win for St. Joseph's while Pratt went 1-for-3 with two runs and an RBI for the Monks.  Freshman Joe Gruntkosky (Peabody, Mass.) recorded the complete-game shutout for the SJM, giving up just six hits with seven strikeouts over seven innings.  Alosco went 3-for-3 in the loss for JWU.

With the split JWU is now 16-10-1 overall and 7-1 in the GNAC while St. Joseph's of Maine is 14-9 for the season and 5-1 in league play. The Wildcats will return to action on Wednesday, April 13th when they host Rhode Island College in a non-conference contest, starting at 3:30 p.m.