Rob Bocchetti (Sr., East Meadow, NY) launched a bases-loaded, bases-clearing triple to highlight a six-run second inning to propel Johnson & Wales to an eventual 10-6 victory over Wentworth today at a wind-swept Scotts Miracle-Gro Athletic Complex.

The Wildcats, who raised their record to 5-6, banged out 17 hits in their second straight home win.  Bocchetti, junior Andrew Hunton (Monroe, NY), and sophomore Ivan Reyes (Cranston, RI) each had three hits to lead JWU.  Outfielders Kory Ferullo (Sr., Rochester, NH) and Carlos Sanabria (So., Pawtucket, RI) had three runs batted in apiece in the win.

Hunton's first of two second-inning singles was the start of a string of seven consecutive Wildcats to reach base in the decisive second.  Ryan Cabral (So., Hope, RI) sent Hunton home with the first run of the game with a single, which was followed by a pair of walks and Bocchetti's three-run triple to the left-center field gap.  Ferullo followed with a misplayed fly ball to right to make it 5-0, and then later scored on Hunton's second single of the inning.

Wentworth closed to within three runs on run-scoring singles by second baseman Joe Hulme (Sr., Tewksbury, MA) and Tyler Weninger (Fr., Chandler, AZ), and a sacrifice fly by right fielder Jordan Burst (So., Jackson, NJ), but those runs were all that Wentworth could muster off Wildcat starter Lane Compton (Jr., Freeland, MI). 

Once out of the troublesome third, Compton, who retired seven of the first eight men he faced, set down all but one of the last 14 who came to the plate through the seventh inning.  The lefty finished a 103-pitch outing with five strikeouts to earn his first win of the season. 

JWU tacked on a pair of runs in the third as Ferullo sent Cabral and Lou Umberto (Soph., Cranston, RI) across to make it 8-3.  The Wildcats moved on to a 10-3 lead with another pair in the seventh, provided by a two-run double from Sanabria which plated Bocchetti and Jordan Pilarski (Jr., Garnet Valley, PA), who both singled earlier in the frame.

The Wildcat bullpen survived a shaky ninth which saw Wentworth bring the potential tying run to the on-deck circle. Christian Ferri (Soph., Bloomfield, NJ) spanked a two-run single to right to highlight a Leopard rally that included three walks, two singles, and a balk, which provided one of Wentworth's three runs in the finale.

The Leopards have now lost two in a row and saw their record dip to 9-5 on the year.

The Wildcats, in the middle of a four-day, six-game stretch at home, play a doubleheader against Castleton State tomorrow at 1pm; then open their Great Northeast Athletic Conference season on Saturday with a noontime doubleheader start  against Lasell College.