WALTHAM, Mass. -- Saint Anselm College used five hits to score four runs in the second inning and went on to a 7-3 win over Bentley University in Northeast-10 Conference baseball Monday afternoon at DeFelice Field.

Saint Anselm, which improved to 23-21 (13-12 NE-10) with its fifth win in its last six games, finished with a total of 12 hits, including three by senior catcher Matt Sucharewicz (Peabody). 

Sucharewicz led off the second inning with a single to left and scored the game's first run on a single to left center off the bat of freshman left fielder Dan Lagasse (Londonderry, N.H.). Junior third baseman Jeff Criscuolo (Durham, Conn.) and freshman shortstop Tito Lluberes (Lawrence) also had RBI singles for the Hawks in the inning, and another run scored on a double steal.

The Hawks padded their lead with a single run in the fourth and two more in the seventh inning.

That was more than enough offensive support for Saint Anselm junior righty Timothy Cooney (East Bridgewater), who didn't allow a hit until the fifth and blanked the Falcons until the eighth. In his 7.2 innings of work, he allowed only four hits and one run while striking out four and walking three.

Bentley freshman center fielder Sean Keady (Norwood/Norwood HS) hit a one-out double to right in the eighth and spoiled the shutout bid of Cooney when he scored on a single to left center by senior right fielder Chris Hardy (Warwick, R.I./Bishop Hendricken HS).

The Falcons picked up two more runs in the ninth inning. Freshman DH Nathan Witkowski (Melrose/Malden Catholic HS) had an RBI double and sophomore first baseman Lamarre Rey (Lynn/ Pingree School), who had singled, scored on a fielder's choice.

Witkowski was the only Bentley player to have more than one hit, as he finished 2-for-4. It was his fifth inning single through the left side that broke up the no-hitter.

Bentley (13-26, 7-16 NE-10) and Saint Anselm will meet again Tuesday afternoon at the Hawks' Sullivan Field.

At Waltham 

SAINT ANSELM 7, BENTLEY 3

Saint Anselm (23-21, 13-12)          040  100  200  --  7  13  0

Bentley (13-26, 7-15)                      000  000  012  --  3   7   1

SA - Timothy Cooney, Bret Bartlett (8), Will O'Connor (9) and Matt Sucharewicz; B - JP Ashline, Mark Lane (7), Andrew Dhionis (9) and Greg Baggett; W - Cooney (2-4); L - Ashline (3-4); 2B - SA,T.J. Murphy, Jeff Criscuolo; B, Sean Keady, Baggett, Nathan Witkowski.