PROVIDENCE, RI-  The sixth seeded Johnson & Wales University softball team knocked off seventh seeded Lasell College, 4-1, in the first round of Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament action on Pierce Field on Wednesday afternoon.  

Three scoreless innings commenced before JWU was able to put up two runs in the bottom of the fourth.  Wildcat freshman Taylor Cwalinski (Jackson, NJ) plated the first run with an RBI double to score Heather Imperatore (Westerly, RI).  Cwalinski then came home on a Robin Ziegler (Doylestown, PA) single to give the hosts a 2-0 edge. 

JWU doubled their lead in the fifth with a run-scoring triple by Imperatore and an RBI double by Kelsey Dunn (Silver Spring, MD).  

The Lasers cut into the Wildcats advantage with a sacrifice fly by Candace Hankard (Wakefield, MA) in the sixth that brought in Courtney Moen (Brookfield, MA).  Lasell then threatened the Wildcats in the seventh by loading the bases with just one out, but Cwalinski, who was the winning pitcher for JWU, got out of the inning without further damage.  

Cwalinski gave up just one run on five hits with five strikeouts in the contest.  Lasell's Alison Saluti (Braintree, MA) suffered the loss, ceding four runs on eight hits, with two strikeouts. 

Ashley Laramie (Lynn, MA) went 2-for-3 at the plate for Lasell while Rachelle Haas (Middleton, MA), Jacqueline Saluti (Braintree, MA), and Moen produced one single apiece.  

The Lasers 2011 season comes to an end with a 11-28 overall record, and a 7th place finish in the GNAC with a 11-13 slate.