PROVIDENCE, R.I.- The Norwich Baseball team remained undefeated in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament play Saturday afternoon after defeating sixth seeded University of Saint Joseph 5-1.

After the first game of the day saw the hosts from Johnson & Wales sent Lasell packing in walk off fashion, the Cadets and Blue Jays were ready for action which Norwich serving as the designated road team on the neutral site. After the first two innings went scoreless, the Cadets would draw first blood in the third. Dillan Garza (San Antonio, Texas) led off the inning with an infield single, narrowly beating out the throw from second. After swiping second base, a perfectly placed bunt by Jon Ringer (Cupertino, Calif.) stayed fair and placed runners on the corners. After the next two hitters were retired, during which time Ringer moved into scoring position, Geffen Franus (Leesburg, Va.) singled up the middle to bring home Garza and Ringer giving the Cadets a lead they would not relinquish.

Those two runs were all Matt Ingraffia (Lake Grove, N.Y.) needed, as he quieted the Blue Jay bats. In eight and a third innings on the bump, Ingraffia walked three and struck out eight and only permitted one run. USJ could not adjust to his off-speed pitches, even placing the golden sombrero on third baseman Dom Scalia after striking him out four times.
Norwich padded their lead in the following inning, which started with an Isaac Maldonado (Miami, Fla.) single followed closely by a free pass to Owen Silk (North Haven, Conn.). With two down, the runners execute a double steal placing runners on second and third for Kevin Ohlsen (Shirley, N.Y.). Ohlsen placed the ball into right field bringing home both runners to put the Cadets up by four. Maldonado would score Franus in the fifth to add on one more.

USJ pushed across a run in the seventh to break the zero. The Blue Jays got runners on base in the ninth, but Noah Carpenter (Herkimer, N.Y.) retired the final two batters to secure the win. All told Maldonado (3-4, RBI, Run Scored), Franus (2-4, 2 RBI, Run Scored), and Ohlsen (1-4, 2 RBI) shined at the plate with Maldonado picking up his sixth multi hit game in as many starts since Apr. 16.

With the two straight wins, the Cadets need one more on Sunday afternoon to advance to the GNAC Championship Series. They will take on Johnson & Wales again at 12 PM, should the Wildcats emerge victorious, a second game would soon follow in the double elimination format.