PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Junior EJ Leone laced three doubles and drove in three to propel the Johnson & Wales (RI) University baseball team to a pair of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) wins over the College of Saint Joseph's (ME) Friday afternoon at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Athletic Complex.
Game One: Wildcats 8, Monks 1
The Wildcats put up four runs in both the third and fifth innings, scoring on a two-run double from Leone, an RBI triple from junior Riley Hasson, RBI doubles from junior Xavier Botelho and sophomore Owen Davis, and run-scoring singles from Botelho and freshman Jack Obert. Freshman Aidan Vining won his fourth-straight decision, scattering five hits and allowing one run over seven while striking out nine.
For the Monks, junior first baseman Matt Thibault (Nashua, N.H.) hit a solo home run and senior catcher Jonathan Dube (Rochester, N.H.) was 1-3 with a double. Sophomore starting pitcher Jason Johnson (Thomaston, Conn.) suffered the loss after allowing eight runs off nine hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 4.1 innings. Senior Sean McDonough (Concord, N.H.) tossed 1.2 innings of scoreless relief.
Game Two: Wildcats 10, Monks 0 (7 inn.)
Hasson, Davis, and junior Thorin Sanchez-Guerra each drove in two runs for the Wildcats. Sanchez-Guerra opened the scoring with a two-run double in the second before Davis' two-run single in the third sparked a three-run inning and ran the lead to 5-0. An RBI single from Botelho in the fifth, followed by a run-scoring double off the bat of Hasson in the sixth, made it 7-0 before JWU plated three more in the seventh to wrap the game. Sophomore Ryan Schultz went the distance for the Wildcats, allowing just three hits while striking out five to improve to 5-0 on the season.
For Saint Joseph's, Dube, Jackson Stanton (Saugus, Mass.), and Jared Wilhelm (Tolland, Conn.) all went 1-3. Graduate starting pitcher Matthew Bergeron (Salem, N.H.) was hit with the loss after yielding two runs on three hits over two innings.
Saint Joseph's will host Lasell University in a GNAC doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch is set for 11:00 AM.
THANKS IN LARGE PART TO JWU SPORTS INFORMATION
