CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL       CHAMPIONSHIP PROGRAM

WALTHAM, Mass. –A berth in the double-elimination portion of the Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Championships will be at stake when Bentley University hosts Southern New Hampshire Tuesday at DeFelice Field in the tournament's opening round. First pitch is scheduled for 2 pm.

The two teams tied for second place in the conference's Northeast Division with Bentley earning the second seed by virtue of winning two of three from the Penmen during a series at SNHU Apr. 19-20 in Manchester.

The Falcons took the first two from the Penmen, 7-1 and 4-0, behind the impressive pitching of senior right-handers JP Ashline (Clinton/Acton-Boxboro Reg. HS) and Jeff Croteau (Auburn/Auburn HS). Croteau pitched a six-hitter in the series opener and Ashline followed with a five-hit shutout in game two. Southern New Hampshire, ranked 12th in Division II at the time, used a late rally to force extra innings in the series finale and went on to prevail 5-4 in 13 innings. 

Bentley will enter the conference tournament with a 26-20 overall record, including 13-3 on the DeFelice grass. The Falcons, who own five wins over top 25 teams this season, had a rough stretch last week, dropping the final four of the regular season after winning 19 of their previous 22.

Southern New Hampshire, an NCAA Division II World Series team a year ago, is 33-16 overall but has dropped three of its last five. The Penmen have had four winning streaks of at least five games this year but also have a trio of three-game losing streaks. Amazingly, this will be SNHU's first-ever appearance in the NE-10 tournament despite being the number one team in the region last year.

Potential starting pitchers for Tuesday's game are either John Yohe (Merrick, N.Y./St. Dominic HS) or Lamarre Rey (Lynn/Pingree School) for Bentley and junior righty Junior Mendez for SNHU. Yohe is 3-2 with a 2.53 ERA in games against regional foes, and Rey is sixth in the conference at ERA (1.73 in 72.2 innings). Both are 3-4 overall on the season.

Mendez, who last pitched in a 12-0 shutout of St. Michael's Apr. 30, is 8-2 with 1.76 ERA and a conference-high 113 strikeouts, an average of 12.45 per nine innings.

Senior catcher Kevin Korwek (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand HS), who recently had a 26-game hitting streak, owns Bentley's best batting average at .295, with his 29 RBI second on the squad. From behind the plate, he's thrown out 24 runners attempting to steal.

Center fielder Sean Keady (Norwood/Norwood HS), a .278 hitter, has scored a team-best 39 runs and has broken his own school record for steals with 35. Right fielder Tom Nagy (Fairfield, Conn./ Ludlowe HS), the team-leader in RBI (31), slugged .600 last week with four of his last seven hits for extra bases. Third baseman Nate Witkowski (Melrose/Malden Catholic HS), who drove in five runs during the SNHU series last month, has connected at a .333 clip over the last 11 games. All three are juniors.

The Southern New Hampshire offense features juniors Andrew Pezzuto and Riley Palmer, along with senior Jon Minucci. Pezzuto is second in the conference in hitting (.391) and his stat line also includes six triples, 31 RBI, 40 stolen bases and a .493 on base percentage. Minucci (.239) has eight homers and 37 RBI, and Palmer's 42 hits include five homers, five triples and six doubles.

In the other first round match-ups, Franklin Pierce is hosting Merrimack, Le Moyne is visiting Pace and New Haven is at home against Adelphi.

The four first-round winners will advance to the championship weekend, with the highest seed out of the Southwest Division (New Haven, Pace or Le Moyne) hosting Thursday through Saturday.