Johnson & Wales, Emmanuel Advance to GNAC Softball Championship

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EAST BOSTON, Mass. - Third-seeded Johnson & Wales University has guaranteed its spot in the 2016 GNAC Softball Championship with its tournament performance on Saturday, as it topped second-seeded University of Saint Joseph (Conn.), 6-3, in a game that began on Friday and had to be suspended, before it defeated fifth-seeded Emmanuel College, 5-0.

Host and top-seeded Suffolk University earned victories over Albertus Magnus College and USJ to eliminate both schools, while sixth-seeded Norwich University was eliminated with a loss to USJ. Suffolk and Emmanuel then battled for the opportunity to advance to Sunday against JWU, with Emmanuel cruising to a 9-1 victory. 

Emmanuel will need a pair of wins tomorrow to claim the conference championship and NCAA Tournament berth.

#3 JWU 6, #2 USJ 3 | #3 JWU 8, #5 EMMANUEL 0
It took 10 innings and two states, but the Johnson & Wales University softball team took down St. Joseph (CT) to advance in the GNAC Tournament. The Wildcats broke out the bats in their second tournament game as they thumped Emmanuel, 8-0, in five innings to move onto Sunday's championship game.

Records:
Johnson & Wales: 30-10 

JWU Statistical Leaders:
Emily Gorecki: 3-5,  4 RBIs, 1 Run vs. SJC
Brenna DuPerry: 2-4, 2 Runs – vs. SJC
Meghan Gavin: 2-2, 2 Runs – vs. EC

Of Note:
Johnson & Wales will play for its second-straight GNAC Tournament championship on Sunday. The Wildcats will face Emmanuel at 10 a.m. This year's JWU squad is the first to ever post 30 victories in a season.

Just like she did last year, Wildcat pitcher Jennifer Corona (Middle Island, NY) has been a work horse, throwing all 15 innings on Saturday to pick up both victories. The two wins ran her record to 19-5. In game one, she struck out a career-high 14 batters.

In the continuation of the game that started on Friday at St. Joseph and was halted in the top of the fourth by rain, Johnson & Wales picked up a run in the fifth on an RBI single from Alex Fantasia (Framingham, Mass.). The Blue Jays tied the game with two runs in the fifth.

Johnson & Wales had runners in scoring position in the seventh and eighth innings. USJ had a chance to plate the winning run in the sixth and put runners on base in the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10^th innings, but great JWU defense kept the Blue Jays from advancing past first base.

IN the top of the 10^th, the Wildcats put runners on first and second when rookie Brenna DuPerry (Cranston, RI) singled to left field then beat the throw to second on Meghan Gavin's (Wallingford, Conn.) sacrifice bunt. GNAC Player of the Year candidate Emily Gorecki (Bremerton, Wash.) cleared the bases when she cranked a three-run home run to right center.

The Wildcats got out to a 1-0 lead over Emmanuel in the second game of the day when DuPerry scored on an error. JWU ended the game early with seven runs in the fourth inning. Corona helped her cause with an RBI single then scored on a two-run DuPerry double. The league's top home run hitting team ended the frame with a two-run bomb from Gorecki and a solo shot by Diana Amendolara (Newtown, Pa.)

Gorecki had her third multi-hit game in a row as she went 3-for-5 with four RBIs versus the Blue Jays. DuPerry had two hits in the opener and one against Emmanuel to run her hitting streak to 14 games. All nine starters picked up a hit against Emmanuel, including Gavin and catcher Kristen Solari (Old Bridge, NJ) with two hits each. 

Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications.

#1 SUFFOLK 9, #7 ALBERTUS MAGNUS 5
Suffolk’s Delaney Sylvester andMorgan Parmeter sparked a late-game comeback to lead the Rams softball team to its 32nd victory of the season in a 9-5 victory over Albertus Magnus in Game 7 of the 2016 GNAC Tournament at East Boston Memorial Park Saturday morning.

The 32-win mark ties the program record for most victories in a single season.  

After falling behind, 4-1 at the end of four innings, freshman Karina Miranda hit a two-RBI triple to right center field in the top of the fifth to score Meredith Ball and Evelyn Marquis and pull the Rams within one. The Falcons responded in the bottom half of the inning when Dayisa Wehder singled to left center to send home junior Rachel Cataudella and push the lead back up to two.

Down 5-3 in the top of the sixth, Sylvester got the Suffolk comeback started with an RBI double to left center field to knock in Jill Pulek. Parmeter followed with a two-run shot over the left field fence to bring home Sydney Littlefield and give the Rams their first lead of the game, 6-5.

Sophomore pitcher Ali Yamakaitis held the Falcons’ offense scoreless for the remainder of the game , pitching a complete seven innings, notching five strikeouts and improving to 12-4 on the season.

The Suffolk bats kept swinging in the top of the seventh inning, led by Parmeter once again as the junior outfielder singled to right center, sending home Pulek and Devlin Frost. Junior Lindsay Pagano later knocked in Sylvester on a single to give Suffolk a four-run cushion and seal the 9-5 win.

Courtesy of Suffolk Athletics Communications. 

#2 USJ 6, #4 NORWICH 1
Patti Sciglimpaglia pitched all 19.1 innings on the day for the Blue Jays. Her complete-game win over Norwich was the final pitching victory of her career – number 52 – and broke the previous school record she had shared with Mary Ann Parsons, who won 51 games from 1999-2001. Her fourth-inning RBI-single was her 61st hit of the season, passing the previous record of 60, set by Val Gasparino in 2001 and Patti added one more in the final game for 62 on the season.

The Blue Jays went up 2-0 in the first inning when Mary Sciglimpaglia had a two-run single and Patti Sciglimpaglia scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0 in the third. It was 3-1 in the fourth when Patti's record-setting hit scored Skoly from second to put USJ up 4-1. USJ added its final two runs in the seventh on RBI-singles from Ashley Tucker (Middletown, Conn.) and Skoly.

Courtesy of USJ Athletics Communications.

#1 SUFFOLK 7, #2 USJ 2
Opening the game with three unanswered runs, the Rams got scoring started early and never looked back on their way to a 7-2 victory over USJ. Suffolk notched its 33rd win of the year, the most ever recorded in a single season by a softball squad in blue and gold.

Sophomore Delaney Sylvester opened fire for the Rams, sending home freshman Karina Miranda on a sac fly to left field in the bottom of the first. Morgan Parmeter knocked in two more runs on a double later in the inning to put the Rams up by three heading into the top of the second.

Jill Pulek continued Suffolk’s scoring streak in the bottom of the third when the freshman sent in Devlin Frost on a double to right center. The Rams added another score in the bottom of the fifth inning as freshman Evelyn Marquis singled to right field, sending Pulek home to put Suffolk up, 5-0.

The Bluejays fought back in the top half of the sixth inning with a two-run shot by Mary Sciglimpaglia to cut the Rams’ lead to three until Pulek responded in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run homerun of her own to put the game away, 7-2.

Sophomore pitcher Taylor Holmes earned her 12th win of the season with the victory, throwing a complete game. Patti Sciglimpaglia recorded the loss for USJ, but earlier Saturday morning, the senior set a school record in the team’s win over Norwich with her 52nd career win, surpassing Mary Ann Parsons who held the previous record at 51 from 1999-2001.

Courtesy of Suffolk Athletics Communications.

#5 EMMANUEL 9, #1 SUFFOLK 1
After stringing together two wins earlier in the day, the Suffolk softball team fell 9-1 to Emmanuel in Game 11, the elimination, semifinal round of the 2016 GNAC Tournament Saturday evening at East Boston Memorial Park. 

The Saints nearly held Suffolk scoreless with the Rams’ lone run coming in the top of the sixth inning before Emmanuel ended the contest with an eight-run lead after a producing four runs in the bottom half of the sixth.

Emmanuel’s Catherine Davis scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the first before Suffolk pitcher Ali Yamakaitis walked in Abbey Alexiades and the Saints took an early 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second, Ashley Skey singled to right center, knocking home Davis yet again.

Casey Sheehan and Alexiades combined for back-to-back homers in the bottom of the fourth inning to give Emmanuel a 5-0 cushion.

The Rams’ solo score then came in the top of the sixth inning with freshman Jill Pulek sending in Devlin Frost on an RBI single. In the bottom half of the inning, Skey tallied another RBI single to send in Catherine Edmonds, giving the Saints a 6-1 lead.

Olivia Burgos went on to notch an RBI and score Briana Ong before a Megan Kieselback single sent in Emmanuel’s eighth and ninth runs of the night in Susie Kieselback and Elysa Moretti to seal the 9-1 win at the end of six innings with an eight-run lead.

Jill Kilcoyne earned the win for the Saints, her 18th of the season, while Yamakaitis recorded just her fifth loss of the year for the Rams.  Emmanuel will go on to play Johnson & Wales in the 2016 GNAC Tournament Championship Sunday morning at 10 a.m.

Courtesy of Suffolk Athletics Communications.

First Round - Tuesday, May 3 (single elimination)
Game 1: #5 Emmanuel 5, #8 Mount Ida 4 | BOX
Game 2: #7 Albertus Magnus 1, #6 Saint Joseph's Maine 0 | BOX

Second Round - Friday, May 6 (double-elim begins)
Game 3: #5 Emmanuel 5, #4 Norwich 0 | BOX
Game 4: #3 Johnson & Wales 5, #7 Albertus Magnus 1 | BOX
Game 5: #5 Emmanuel 9, #1 Suffolk 7 | BOX
Game 6: #3 Johnson & Wales 6, #2 USJ 3 | BOX (completed Saturday)

Semifinals - Saturday, May 7 (hosted by #1 Suffolk)
Game 7: #1 Suffolk 9, #7 Albertus Magnus 5 | BOX (Albertus eliminated)
Game 8: #2 USJ 6, #4 Norwich 1| BOX (Norwich eliminated)
Game 9: #3 Johnson & Wales 8, #5 Emmanuel 0 | BOX
Game 10: #1 Suffolk 7, #2 USJ 2 | BOX (USJ eliminated)
Game 11: #5 Emmanuel 9, #1 Suffolk 1 | BOX (Suffolk eliminated)

Championship - Sunday, May 8 (hosted by #1 Suffolk, East Boston Memorial Park)
Game 12: #5 Emmanuel vs. #3 Johnson & Wales - 10AM
Game 13: if necessary - 12:00PM