East Providence, R.I. – The Johnson & Wales
baseball team split a pair of games against Lasell in a Great
Northeast Athletic Conference doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at
Pierce Field. The Wildcats dropped game one by a score of 7-3 and
took a 5-2 win in game two of the twin bill. The day also marked
Senior Day at Pierce Field as the Wildcats honored the six members
of the Class of 2010 in between the two games. The seniors included
Rich
Fonseca (East Providence, R.I.), Jonathan Melendez (Providence,
R.I.), Waldis Garcia
(Lowell, Mass.), Nick Marine
(Bristol, R.I.), Jeff Jordan
(Woodbridge, N.J.) and Mike Sarfati (North Plainfield, N.J.).
The Wildcats struck first in the bottom of the first inning when
Fonseca tallied a two run single. Melendez then hit a double to
left-center field in the bottom of the second inning scoring
Waldis Garcia (Lowell, Mass.) giving JWU an early
3-0 lead after two. Lasell got on the scoreboard in the fourth
inning when junior Herb Chappell (Salem, Conn.)
hit a three run homerun to tie the game at three apiece. The Lasers
tacked on a run in the fifth and three more in the sixth to take a
7-3 lead. The Wildcats couldn't produce any runs after the second
inning as sophomore pitcher Josh Sullivan (Rockland,
Mass.) only allowed five hits in the final five innings to
pick up the win for the Lasers. Sullivan also went 2-for-3 with two
runs for Lasell. Fonseca was 2-for-3 with two RBI while Melendez
notched three hits in the loss for JWU.
In the nightcap, Lasell produced the first run in the top of the
second inning when Carlton Lentini (Wilmington,
Mass.) hit an RBI groundout, scoring Conor
Cavanagh (Quincy, Mass.). Melendez came up for JWU in the
bottom of the third and belted a two-run homerun, his 10th of the
season, to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead after three. Chappell tied
the game in the top of the fourth on an RBI single to tie the game
at 2-2. Melendez then put the Wildcats ahead in the fifth inning
with a two-run triple to center field before Mike Murphy
(Pawtucket, R.I.) singled in the fifth and final run on
the day for JWU. Melendez went 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBI
while sophomore Joe Coppola
(Ridgewood, N.J.) was 2-for-3 with a run scored for the
Wildcats. Sophomore Alex MacKay
(Sanford, Maine) was outstanding in the win for JWU,
allowing one earned run on three hits with seven strikeouts in the
complete-game victory.
JWU is now 13-24 overall and 8-6 in the GNAC while Lasell moves to
4-19 overall and 4-8 in the GNAC for the year. The Wildcats will
return to action on Wednesday, April 21st when they travel to UMass
Dartmouth for a non-conference contest beginning at 3:30 p.m.
