PROVIDENCE – The Suffolk softball team dropped a 5-4 thriller to Johnson & Wales in the closer at SGM Athletic Complex as the Wildcats secured the sweep over the Rams Saturday afternoon. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 4, JWU 5
RECORDS: Suffolk (6-10, 0-2 GNAC) | JWU (14-5, 6-0 GNAC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk found itself in a 2-0 hole after the first inning and made movement in the bottom of the second. Delaney Sylvester led off with a double and an error by the Wildcats third baseman put Madison Eucalitto on first. Lindsay Pagano followed suit with a single up the middle to load the bags. Two batters later, McKenzie McGrath put Suffolk on the board with a single to right field to score Sylvester. 

The tides turned in the Rams favor in the home half of the third with a bomb from Jill Pulek. The designated hitter slugged a homer to bring in Devlin Frost, who opened the bottom of the third with a single, to make it a 3-2 Suffolk game. 

The score equalized in the fifth and JWU grabbed a short lead in the sixth, before things tied up once again in the bottom of the sixth. Pulek once again was behind the run with the sophomore singling through the right side to bring in Sydney Littlefield, who reached on a single to right, knotting the game at 4-all. 

Johnson & Wales would score their third run in the third straight inning with a sac fly to grab a 5-4 lead. The Wildcats handled the Rams in order to pick up the win. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Pulek's 2-for-3, three-RBI, one-walk, one-run performance paced the pack Suffolk at the plate.
• Littlefield, Frost and McGrath all went 2-for-4 with Sylvester putting together a 2-for-3 effort.
• A trio of Rams joined Pulek with runs in Littlefield, Frost and Sylvester.
• McGrath, meanwhile, recorded one RBI. 

PITCHERS PICURE

• Ali Yamakaitis move to 3-5 on the season. The junior gave up five runs on seven hits in a complete-game effort.
• JWU's starter Emily Gundrum allowed three runs on eight hits in 5.0 frames with three strikeouts and three walks.
• Jennifer Corona picked up the win in relief work with one run allowed on three hits to go with two Ks and one walk. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Pulek has rocked a homer in four of the last five games and has gone yard five times this season. 

POST-GAME PIC

UP NEXT
Suffolk travels across town for a twin bill at GNAC and Boston rival Emmanuel. Game time at Clemente Field is set for 12 p.m.