Facing elimination twice in one day, the Johnson & Wales University baseball team earned a spot in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship game on Sunday afternoon with a 7-1 win over #4 Lasell in the first game of the day before upending defending champion #1 Saint Joseph's of Maine, 4-2 in the third and final game.

The tournament will continue tomorrow when the Wildcats will battle the #3 Suffolk Rams at Holman Stadium at 12:00 p.m. The Rams defeated JWU in the first game of the double elimination tournament on Thursday night in Providence.

Senior pitcher Shawn Haugh (Tampa, Fla.) scattered four hits and eight strikeouts in a complete-game effort to lead JWU to a victory in game one against the Lasers of Lasell College.

The Wildcats were led at the plate by Andrew Hunton (Monroe, N.Y.) who hit 2-for-4 with three RBI. Junior Ty Karalis (Seekonk, Mass.) hit 3-for-3 on the day. In addition, JWU saw single hits from Rob Bocchetti (East Meadow, N.Y.), Kory Ferullo (Rochester, N.H.), and Lou Umberto (Cranston, R.I.).

After two quick scoreless innings, the Wildcats got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. JWU loaded the bases on an error on a sacrifice bunt attempt, and a few pitches later, Ryan Cabral (Hope, R.I.) scored on a wild pitch.

The Wildcats added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth as Hunton doubled to left center to score Bocchetti and Karalis.

Lasell responded with a single score in the top of the sixth as the inning's leadoff batter reached on a throwing error and would come around to score on a double by Dan Gagnon (Pomfret Center, Conn.).

The Wildcats would break it open for good in the bottom of the sixth as they strung together four runs on three hits and an error.

Senior pitcher Greg Sherman (Marshfield, Mass.) took the loss for Lasell on the mound, giving up four earned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out four in 5.1 innings of work.

The Lasers end their season with a 14-17 record.

Senior Lane Compton (Freeland, Mich.) picked up his fifth win of the season in the second elimination game of the day against the Monks. Compton threw seven and two thirds innings of five hit baseball while striking out five and allowing just two runs.

Bocchetti smacked two hits and grabbed an RBI while Cabral scored twice in the victory.

Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.) and Max Coomb (South Berwick, Maine) collected two hits in the nightcap while Coyne knocked in two RBI in the loss for Saint Joseph's.

After junior Tom Elkow (Morganville, N.J.) scored the game's first run on a wild pitch, sophomore Brandon Cesino (Scituate, R.I.) knocked in Cabral to give the Wildcats a 2-0 advantage in the fifth. Umberto then singled to right, took second on another wild pitch and scored on a double to the right center gap by Bocchetti to push the lead to 3-0 after five innings.

Two miscues for the Monks in the top of the seventh sent Cabral across the plate once more to give JWU a 4-0 advantage through seven innings.

Compton worked into the bottom of the eighth before surrendering a single and walking a batter while picking up two outs. Sophomore Bryan Quinlan (Cumberland, R.I.) gave up a two-run double by Coyne before striking out the next Monk looking.

Quinlan forced three fly outs in the bottom of the ninth to end the game and secure the Wildcats first trip to the championship game since 2006.

Johnson & Wales is now 19-13 for the year while St. Joseph's finishes up the 2015 campaign with a 23-14 record