PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Sophomore Jake Marchessault held Suffolk to four hits to win his first game of the year, but the Rams’ Jake Flax pitched a three-hitter against Johnson & Wales in the second game, as the two teams split a Great Northeast Athletic Conference doubleheader at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Athletics Complex.

JWU won the opener, 2-1. J.C. Collette (Sr., Amesbury, Mass.) went 3-for-3 with four RBI, and third baseman Drew Carter hit a three-run homer in Suffolk’s six-run first inning as the Rams took the nightcap, 9-2.

Marchessault, last season’s GNAC Pitcher of the Year, struck out four without walking a batter to stifle the Rams after they had scored an unearned run in the top of the second. Kory Ferullo (Sr., Rochester, N.H.) singled to center field for the eventual game-winning run in JWU’s two-run third inning. Sophomore Chris Baldwin (Pawtucket, R.I.) scored on a misplayed grounder off the bat of shortstop Lou Umberto (So., Cranston, R.I.), who was to score the second Wildcat run on Ferullo’s base hit.

Chuck Gibson (So., Malden, Mass.) suffered the loss, though allowing just the one earned run, striking out six.

In the day’s second game, singles by Sean Cameron (So., Milford, Conn.) and Julien Plana (Jr., Miami, Fla.), and a two-run double by Collette set the stage for Carter’s home run.

A pair of errors helped JWU cut the lead to 6-2 at the end of an inning, but Flax shut the Wildcats out the rest of the way, allowing only two hits over the last six innings to raise his record to 2-1.

The Rams raised their overall mark to 8-12 and their GNAC record moved to 4-2. The Wildcats, 9-10 overall, split their third straight conference doubleheader, and are now 3-3 in GNAC play.