Dante Padovani
Dante Padovani

Witkowski & Padovani Combine for 7 RBI as Bentley Overtakes Saint Anselm in Game Completed 4 Weeks After Start

MANCHESTER, N.H. – In a game that was played over the course of 29 days in two different cities, juniors Nate Witkowski (Melrose, Mass./Malden Catholic HS) and Dante Padovani (Lynnfield/ Lynnfield HS) combined for seven RBI as Bentley University stayed hot with a come-from-behind 11-7 win over Saint Anselm College in a Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division baseball game that concluded Monday at Sullivan Park.

The game was halted by rain on April 1 with Saint Anselm leaving Bentley's DeFelice Field with a 5-2 lead after four innings. Despite it being played in Waltham, the Hawks were the home team as their field was unplayable at the time.

An inning after play resumed, Bentley used an offensive explosion to turn the game around, scoring five times in the sixth and adding four more in the seventh. Saint Anselm picked up a pair of two-out runs in the bottom of the ninth to account for the final score.

The victory extended Bentley's lead in the Northeast Division to two games over Franklin Pierce, with four contests left in the regular season. It was the team's sixth straight, 11th in the last 12 games and 19th in the last 22 when the Falcons improving to 26-16 overall, 17-8 NE-10 and 13-4 division.

Junior right fielder Tom Nagy (Fairfield, Conn./Ludlowe HS) got the sixth started for the Falcons with a double down the left field line. Senior catcher Kevin Korwek (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand HS), who extended his hitting streak to 25, singled through the left side,  putting runners on the corners. A one-out single by Witkowski made it a 5-3 game, and a two-out single by Padovani brought in Korwek and Witkowski, tying things up at five apiece.

After a walk, Padovani scored the go-ahead run on a double down the right field line by freshman Bryan Rocha (Rehoboth/Dighton-Rehoboth Reg. HS) and an RBI single by senior second baseman Logan Gillis (Merrimack, N.H./Lawrence Academy) closed out the sixth-inning scoring.

In the seventh, Witkowski had an RBI double, junior shortstop Will Brennan (Locust Valley, N.Y./Locust Valley HS) scored on an error after reaching on a single, Padovani had an RBI single for the third run, and Padovani stole home as part of a double steal to make it 11-5. On the play, junior center fielder Sean Keady (Norwood/Norwood HS) recorded his 35th stolen base of the season, breaking his own school record set in 2011.

Sophomore righty Connor Root (Nashua, N.H./Nashua HS North) gave Bentley nearly five scoreless innings of relief before yielding the two runs in the ninth. He gave up only one hit during his first four innings of work, struck out seven and improved to 4-2 on the season.

Witkowski finished with three hits, two runs scored and four RBI, and Padovani was 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. Korwek scored three times and also had three hits, and both Rocha and Nagy had two base hits.

Senior third baseman Robert Kelly (Aurora, Colo.) was 4-for-4 for Saint Anselm, including a home run in the ninth, his seventh of the year, and two doubles.

Bentley will play its final regular season home game on Tuesday, hosting Merrimack at 3:30 pm.