Bentley 10, Wilmington 4
Bentley 6, Wilmington 5
Box Score G1 I
Box Score G2
After having its back against the wall Saturday, the No. 10 nationally ranked Bentley baseball team responded in championship fashion Sunday, sweeping Wilmington (Del.) in two elimination games to capture the NCAA Division II East Regional title in Waltham, Mass. The Falcons opened the day with a commanding 10-4 victory before rallying from a five-run deficit in the winner-take-all nightcap for a dramatic 6-5 comeback win.
Bentley wasted no time in the opener, jumping ahead on Brendan Sencaj’s three-run homer in the first inning before adding more firepower behind long balls from Jared Berardino, Nick Pappas, Stan DeMartinis III and Jake Maydak. The Falcons pounded out 13 hits and received a complete-game effort from Sam Belliveau, who scattered eight hits and struck out four to keep Bentley alive. Sencaj drove in three runs, while Berardino, DeMartinis and Maydak each added two RBIs in the offensive outburst.
The regional final if-necessary game tested Bentley even further. Wilmington built a 5-0 lead through five innings, but the Falcons answered with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, sparked by Maydak’s two-run homer and aided by a pair of Wildcats errors. Bentley completed the comeback in the seventh inning when Tommy Bolton tied the game and Nick Pappas delivered the go-ahead RBI double to left-center. Reliever Keegan Antelman shut the door over the final five innings, allowing just one run while helping the Falcons secure the regional crown.
The championship capped another historic milestone season for Bentley, which entered the NCAA Tournament as the East Region’s top seed after winning its first-ever Northeast 10 title and making the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance.
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