East Providence, R.I. -- The Johnson & Wales University softball team swept Suffolk in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference double header at Pierce Field on Saturday afternoon. JWU posted a 2-1 win in the opener and capped the day with a 3-1 victory in the nightcap.
In the opener, Suffolk took the 1-0 lead in the top of the first when junior Monica Cioffi (East Boston, Mass.) led off with a single and later scored on a JWU miscue. Johnson & Wales responded in the bottom of the third after sophomore Holliann Barry (Newburgh, N.Y.) scored an unearned run to knot the game at 1-1. After three scoreless innings, JWU ended the game in the bottom of the seven when freshman Ellis Kim (Glendale, Calif.) reached on an error and scored the game-winning run off of a two out triple by sophomore Olivia England (Natick, Mass.) to give the Wildcats the 2-1 victory. Cioffi was 2-for-3 with a run scored for Suffolk while sophomore Elizabeth Galvin (Medway, Mass.) took the loss for the Rams, giving up a pair of unearned runs on four hits with eight strikeouts. Freshman Rachel Marino (Northbridge, Mass.) notched the complete-game win for the Wildcats, allowing one unearned run on two hits with six strikeouts.
The nightcap saw Johnson & Wales jump out to the early 2-0 lead on an RBI single by senior Liana Rivera (Queens, N.Y.) and an RBI single by Kim. Suffolk chipped away at the lead in the top of the second when a sacrifice fly by graduate student Ashley Gaboriault (Worcester, Mass.) made the score 2-1. JWU added an insurance run in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Rivera en route to the 3-1 victory. Rivera was 2-for-3 with two RBI while Kim was 1-for-3 with an RBI in the win for the Wildcats. Gaboriault went 1-for-2 with an RBI for the Rams in the loss. Junior Amanda Rae Sullivan (East Granby, Conn.) recorded the complete game win for JWU, giving up one unearned run on five hits.
With the two wins Johnson & Wales is now 6-22 overall and 5-11 in the GNAC while Suffolk falls to 7-25 for the season, 5-13 in league play. The Wildcats will return to action on Sunday, April 11th when they travel to Pine Manor for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference twin bill starting at 12:00 p.m.
(Story courtesy of Johnson & Wales Athletics Communications)