PROVIDENCE - Shari Minalga hit her first career homerun to spark six straight runs in the final four innings to propel the Wildcats to a 7-3 win over Lasell in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Quarterfinals on Tuesday night.
Records:
JWU: 17-7
Lasell: 8-13
Statistics:
Julia Huzi: 2-for-3, HR, 2B, 2 RBI
Shari Minalga: 1-for-3, HR, RBI
Jill Pulek: 1-for-3, 2B, RBI
Of Note:
Lasell had the first three runners reach base safely to open the game and saw two runs cross the plate to take a 2-0 lead. JWU answered in the bottom of the first when Huzi laced a double to right center and scored on the next play when Minalga dropped bunt four feet up the line that led to an errant throw for Huzi to round third and score to bring the Wildcats within one.
The Lasers tacked on a run in the 2nd before Minalga sent a homerun to left to bring the hosts within one in the bottom of the 3rd. JWU took the lead for the first time in the 5th when Jill Pulek smacked a double off the left field wall scoring Huzi. Kaelani Gamble reached on a Lasell miscue that scored Pulek to put the Wildcats in fron 4-3. Huzi stepped up in the bottom of the 6th and blasted a homerun off the scoreboard in left to seal the game for JWU with a 7-3 win.
Sophomore Livia Feole went the distance for the Wildcats tossing the complete game victory. She struck out six, walked one and scattered eight hits, with only two in the final four innings for her fifth win of the year and first career postseason victory.
Up Next:
#2 JWU will host the semifinals on Thursday night at 4 p.m. against #3 University of Saint Joseph. The two teams split the regular season meeting on April 22.
