Anna Maria Upsets #2 Johnson & Wales
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Anna Maria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 3 |
|
Johnson & Wales (RI) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
East Providence, R.I. -- The Anna Maria College baseball team came-from-behind to defeat Johnson & Wales 5-3 in the Final Four of the 2012 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship at Pierce Field on Thursday evening.
Anna Maria threatened with the bases loaded and no outs in the top of the first, but the AMCATS couldn't capitalize and the Wildcats were able escape the inning unscathed. Johnson & Wales took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second after junior Zach Boyes (West Warwick, R.I.) led off with a single and came around to score on a groundout by sophomore Jack Hocking (Hanover, Mass.).
Senior Jeff Scafidi (Worcester, Mass.) knotted the game at 1-1 with an RBI triple to right in the top of the third for Anna Maria. Johnson & Wales took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when they pushed across a pair of runs, including an RBI double by junior Brian Olofson (Highlands, N.J.) for the 3-1 advantage.
Anna Maria chipped away at the lead in the top of the top of the sixth after an RBI double by junior Justin Hyland (Spencer, Mass.) made the score 3-2. The visiting AMCATS took the 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh when they capitalized on a JWU miscue for pair of unearned runs. Anna Maria added an insurance run in the eighth inning as an RBI single by junior Joe McNeil (Sutton, Mass.) helped propel the team to the 5-3 victory.
McNeil was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI for Anna Maria while Hyland picked up the win on the mound for the AMCATS, giving up three runs on five hits with four strikeouts in seven and a third innings of work. Boyes went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored. Senior Marc Sommerhalter (Emerson, N.J.) suffered the setback for the Wildcats, giving up three runs, only one of them earned, in one and two third innings of work.
With the loss JWU falls to 25-16 while Anna Maria improves to 22-14 on the year. JWU will return to action on Saturday, April 28th when take on Suffolk in an elimination game at 10:00 a.m. Anna Maria will face off against top-seeded St. Joseph's of Maine in a winner's bracket matchup at 1:00 p.m. All of the action takes place at Pierce Field in East Providence, R.I.
