COURTESY OF JOHNSON AND WALES UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
East Providence, R.I. - The Johnson & Wales University baseball team swept Saint Joseph's of Maine in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference double header at Pierce Field on Sunday afternoon. Johnson & Wales posted a 7-5 win in the opener and finished the sweep with a 4-2 win in the nightcap.

In the opener, Johnson & Wales jumped out to an early 1-0 on an RBI groundout by senior Brad Jackson (Setauket, N.Y.) in the top of the first inning. Saint Joseph's knotted the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by sophomore Ben Grant-Roy's (Biddeford, Maine). Junior Jonathan Melendez (Providence, R.I.) led off the top of the second inning with a solo home run and the Wildcats added two more in the frame to take the 4-1 lead. Melendez's RBI double in the top of the third put JWU ahead 5-1. Senior Mike Ziman (Bridgeport, Conn.) notched a run scoring double in the fifth to extend the advantage to 6-1. Saint Joseph's responded in the bottom of the fifth when a two run triple by senior Luke Enman (Milan, N.H.) cut the lead to 6-3. Senior Dustin Spiller's (Gorham, Maine) sacrifice fly then made the score 6-4. The Wildcats added to their lead in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Jackson, giving the squad a 7-4 advantage. The Monks rallied in the bottom of the seventh, cutting the lead to 7-5 on an RBI triple by Spiller. That would be as close as the team would get, however as JWU held on for the 7-5 victory. Jackson was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI in the win for the Wildcats. Enman was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI for Saint Joseph's. Senior Erik Hufnagel (Sykesville, Md.) pitched a complete game victory for JWU, allowing five runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts.

Monks starting pitcher SO Kyle Dorr (Berwick, ME) took the loss on the hil. FY Chris Dion (Lawrence, MA) threw 2 2/3 innings of effective relief, allowing one run and 2 hits.

In the nightcap, Johnson & Wales took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second on an RBI groundout by junior Rich Fonseca (Riverside, R.I.) and a run scoring single by Jackson. Saint Joseph's cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double by Grant-Roy. The Wildcats added a run in the fifth, but the visiting Monks responded in the bottom of the sixth with an unearned run to cut the lead to 3-2. In the top of the seventh, Melendez hit a sacrifice fly to put JWU ahead 4-2. Saint Joseph's threatened in the bottom of the seventh, putting runners on first and second with two outs. They could not move the runners across, however as JWU took the 4-2 victory. Melendez was 1-for-2 with an RBI at the plate and was also solid on the mound, allowing two runs on nine hits in seven innings. For Saint Joseph's, Luke Enman was 2-3 with a run and FY Ian Lee (Hampden, ME) was 2-3 in the losing effort.

SJC starting pitcher FY Mason Roberge (Franklin, NH) struck out six Wildcat batters in 6 innings of work to take the loss and SR Steve Stout (Gloucester, MA) pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

The Wildcats are now 11-7 for the season, 4-0 in the GNAC while Saint Joseph's falls to 7-10 for the season, 0-4 in league play. JWU will return to action on Tuesday, April 1st when they host Mitchell in a non-conference contest, starting at 3:30 p.m.