Rivier scored twice in the top of the sixth, then rode the clutch relief work of senior Alex Mears (Salem, N.H.) en route to a 5-4 victory over Johnson & Wales, and a split of their Great Northeast Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Athletic Complex tonight.

Down 4-3 in the sixth, Dave Feole (Jr., Scituate, R.I.) launched a leadoff home run to tie game, then watched teammate J.J. Montello (Sr., Nashua, N.H.) send an RBI triple down the left field line to send Mark Medeiros (Jr., Arlington, Mass.) home with the eventual gamewinner for the Raiders (7-12), who raised their conference record to 2-4.

Mears, who set down five Wildcats consecutively during a relief stint in JWU's 13-9 win in the opener, completed a three-inning, six-strikeout, no-hit outing to earn his second win of the season in the nightcap. 

Carlos Sanabria (So., Pawtucket, R.I.) went 4-for-4 with four runs score and three RBI to lead the Wildcats (8-8) to victory in the first game of the night.  Ivan Reyes (Fr., Cranston, R.I.) stroked a two-run home run in a five-run second which helped the 'Cats to the win.

Rivier got off to a fast start in the opener, as junior Taylor Black (West Springfield, Mass.) sent the first two runs of the evening home with a triple off the left-field fence, and later scored on a one-out ground out. 

The Wildcats came roaring back on Sanabria's first of his four hits, a single to right.  Andrew Hunton (Jr., Monroe, N.Y.) made it 3-1 with an RBI triple, and scored ahead of Reyes' homer, which tied the game at three.  JWU's Chris Baldwin (So., Pawtucket, R.I.) singled, moved to third on two passed balls, and, after Lou Umberto (So., Cranston, R.I.) was hit by a pitch, scored on an RBI single to left by Tom Elkow (Jr., Morristown, N.J.).  Umberto ended the five-run rally when he scored on a sacrifice fly to Rob Bocchetti (Sr., East Meadow, N.Y.)

Baldwin spanked a two-run double to score Sanabria and Ryan Cabral (So., Scituate, R.I.), who had both singled in the third, and the Wildcats took a 7-3 lead. 

Adam Arkell (So., Dover, N.H.) had an RBI single to close the gap to three in the top of the fourth, but the Wildcats claimed a 10-4 lead with three in the fourth on a Sanabria single and a two-run base hit by Hunton, who went two-for-four in the first game. 

The teams traded crooked numbers on the scoreboard in the sixth.  Rivier scored twice in their half, while Sanabria's two-run double keyed a three-run inning, and after six, the Wildcats led, 13-6.

Rivier scored the game's last three runs on a pair of walks, two errors, a pair of singles, and two RBI ground ball outs. 

Lane Compton (Sr., Freeland, Mich.), who threw the first six innings of the game, earned his second win of the year for the Wildcats.  The lefty allowed three earned runs on four hits, striking out three.

Elkow, Pilarski, Hunton, Cabral, and Baldwin each had two hits in support of Sanabria's four in JWU's victory. 

In the nightcap, Rivier again grabbed a three-run lead on a two-out, two-run single by Feole (2-for-4) after Jeremy Ball had walked to force in the first run of the game.  The Wildcats answered with two in their half of the third when Umberto doubled and scored on a passed ball.  Hunton's RBI triple made it 3-2 after three.

The Wildcats then went out to a 4-3 lead and chased starter Lucas Palma (Sr., Bristol, Conn.) aided by two hit batsmen, an error, and an RBI double by catcher Ty Karalis (Sr., Pawtucket, R.I.), who then scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.

But JWU freshman Keith Grant (East Providence, R.I,) couldn't hold the lead, as Feole caught a curve ball and sent it over the fence in left field to tie the game, 4-4.  After a pair of strikeouts brought Grant's total to nine, the lefty hit Medeiros, setting the stage for Montello's game-winner.

After JWU banged out 16 hits in the opener, Palma and Mears limited the Wildcats to only four in the second game. 

The loss evened the Wildcats' GNAC record to 2-2. 

Johnson & Wales plays non-conference games on Wednesday at Rhode Island College and on Thursday at Bridgewater State.  Both games begin at 3:30.  JWU's next GNAC games are set for Saturday against Suffolk and on Sunday against Anna Maria, with both weekend doubleheaders taking place at the Miracle-Gro Complex beginning at noon.