EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Western New England College baseball team moved one step closer to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament title after defeating Johnson & Wales 7-1 in a winners bracket game Friday afternoon at Pierce Field.

The Golden Bears, who split a pair of regular season contests against the Wildcats, received another strong pitching performance from sophomore lefty Chris Anderson (Moodus, CT) who tossed a five-hitter after striking out eight and walking two. The run scored against Anderson (4-2) was unearned.

Western New England College got on the board early by scoring four runs in the second and two more in the fourth before adding its final run in the ninth.

Senior second baseman Jason Connelly (Scituate, MA) led the 10-hit attack by going 3-for-5 with two RBI. Junior first baseman Tom Horgan (Westfield, MA) and sophomore designated hitter Travis Schwamb (West Springfield, MA) each had a pair of hits. Junior left-fielder Eric Smolin (Westford, MA) had a hit and stole two bases, including home on the front end of a double steal with junior catcher Steve Hanjack (Enfield, CT).

With the victory, Western New England College (30-8) reached the 30-win plateau for the third consecutive season. The Golden Bears have won five straight contests and nine of their last 10 games.

WNEC will play Johnson & Wales at 2:00 p.m. Saturday (April 29) in the double elimination tournament. If the Golden Bears lose, a second game will follow.

In the first game Friday, Rivier eliminated defending GNAC championship Suffolk by the score of  6-1. Johnson & Wales then came back to defeat Rivier 14-0 in the third game tonight to set the rematch against WesternNew England College.

The GNAC Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.