PROVIDENCE - Devin Scales homered in the bottom of the fifth inning to close out an eight-run rule victory over Saint Joseph on Thursday afternoon in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference semifinals at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Athletic Complex. The second-seeded Wildcats defeated the third-seed Blue Jays, 11-3.
Records:
JWU: 18-7
USJ: 13-7
Statistics:
Devin Scales: 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R
Hailey Erickson: 2-for-3, 2B, RBI
Julia Huzi: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R
Of Note:
Julia Huzi opened the game with a single up the middle, stole second, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on an errant throw before the next batter was able to finish her at bat. JWU then scored five more in the second thanks to a Huzi RBI single and single to left by Kaelani Gamble that scored Devin Scales. The Blue Jays cut the deficit in half in the next two innings, giving JWU a 6-3 edge heading into the bottom of the fourth. A pair of RBI singles by Hailey Erickson and Talia Smaller in front of an RBI sacrifice fly by Megan Antaya put the Wildcats up 9-3 after four. In the fifth, Jill Pulek singled up the middle with one out paving the way for Scales' walk-off homerun to left that sealed the 11-3 win for the Wildcats.
Livia Feole pitched well for JWU, tossing five innings of seven hit ball, striking out two, walking two and allowing just two earned runs. Six different batters had multi-hit games in the victory for the Wildcats who will advance to the GNAC Championship for the first time since 2018.
Up Next:
The Wildcats will travel to Emmanuel on Saturday for the best-of-three GNAC Championship against the Saints beginning at 12 p.m. at Clemente Field in Boston. If the two teams split the doubleheader on Saturday, they will play the final game on Sunday in Boston.
