Providence, R.I. – Junior Teddy Katz
(Pittsburgh, Pa.) hit a walk-off solo home run in the
bottom of the ninth to give the Johnson & Wales University
baseball team a thrilling 8-7 victory against Brandeis in a
non-conference contest at Pierce Field on Thursday afternoon. The
home run was Katz's sixth of the season and led JWU to their
seventh straight victory.
Brandeis took the 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI
single by sophomore Jon Chu (Hollis Hills, N.Y.).
Johnson & Wales responded in the bottom of the first when
senior Jonathan Melendez (Providence, R.I.) led
off with a single and scored on an RBI groundout by sophomore
Zach
Boyes (West Warwick, R.I.). The Wildcats took the 2-1
lead on an infield single by senior Rich Fonseca (East
Providence, R.I.) that plated junior Nick Alosco
(Mahopac, N.Y.) with the go-ahead run. After a scoreless
second inning, the visiting Judges knotted the game at 2-2 on a two
out RBI single by Chu. JWU regained the lead in the bottom of the
third after Boyes reached on a fielders choice and later crossed
the plate on a run scoring double by Fonseca to take the 3-2
advantage.
Fonseca's third RBI of the afternoon in the bottom of the fifth
increased JWU's lead to 4-2 and the Wildcats later capitalized on a
Brandeis error to go up 5-2. In the bottom of the sixth, Melendez
belted his ninth home run of the season and fourth in the last two
games to put the squad up 6-2. The Wildcats extended their lead on
an RBI double by junior Bryan Sayers
(Chelmsford, Mass.) to go ahead 7-2. Brandeis rallied in
the top of the eighth, scoring five runs, including a grand slam by
sophomore Sean O'Hare (Southampton, Mass.) to knot
the game at 7-7. Katz then provided the heroics in the bottom of
the ninth to give JWU the 8-7 victory.
Katz went 4-for-5 with two runs and an RBI while Fonseca was
3-for-4 with a run and three RBI for Johnson & Wales. Junior
Matt Yaeger
(Glendale, Ariz.) notched the win on the mound for the
Wildcats, pitching one scoreless inning of relief to earn his
second win of the season. Junior Tony Deshler (Pepperell,
Mass.) was 3-for-5 with two runs while Chu went 3-for-5
with a run and two RBI in the setback for Brandeis.
With the win Johnson & Wales is now 11-22 while Brandeis falls
to 8-18 for the season. The Wildcats will return to action on
Saturday, April 17th when they host Emerson for a Great Northeast
Athletic Conference double header, starting at 12:00 p.m.
