WALTHAM, Mass. – Junior lefty David Long (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield HS) and sophomore righty Will Alden (Westford/Westford Academy) combined on a four-hitter as Bentley University remained hot with a 3-2 win over Pace University in Northeast-10 Conference non-divisional baseball Saturday afternoon at DeFelice Field.

The win was the sixth straight for the Falcons, as well as their 11th in the last 12 games. That's boosted the team's record to 12-8 overall, including 8-1 against conference opponents. Pace, limited to four hits by Bentley pitching for the second straight day, dropped to 5-12 overall and 1-7 NE-10.

Alden, who dropped his ERA to 1.40, earned his second win of the season with four innings of one-hit shutout baseball in which he walked one and struck out two. The only two base runners against him came in the eighth, but he escaped a first and third situation with an inning-ending strikeout.

Long pitched four scoreless innings before giving up a pair of runs in the fifth inning, with the second unearned. He allowed three hits and had one strike out while lowering his ERA to 2.63.

Offensively, senior designated hitter Dante Padovani (Lynnfield/Lynnfield HS) and sophomore catcher Bryan Rocha (Rehoboth/Dighton-Rehoboth HS) were involved in both Bentley scoring innings.

In the second, Padovani doubled to left center, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Rocha's slow roller down the third base line.

The Setters turned the game around in the fifth inning. Sophomore catcher Frank Mayo (Middletown, N.Y.) drew a one-out walk and scored the tying run on a double to center by senior DH Alexander Rough (Stamford, Conn.). He took third on Bentley's only error of the afternoon and made it a 2-1 game when he came home on a sacrifice fly by junior shortstop Brett Bittiger (Saylorsburg, Pa.).

Bentley matched the two runs in the sixth with a single by senior third baseman Nate Witkowski (Melrose/Malden Catholic HS) and a double by senior shortstop Will Brennan (Locust Valley, N.Y./ Locust Valley HS) giving the Falcons two runners in scoring position with no out.

A pitching change, an out and an intentional walk later, Padovani was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, forcing Witkowski in from third with the tying run. Rocha followed with a walk, scoring Brennan to make it a 3-2 game.

Brennan and Rocha each had two hits for Bentley, which finished with eight as a team. Senior left fielder Sean Keady (Norwood/Norwood HS) singled in the seventh, extending his hitting streak to 15 games.  It was also the 30th consecutive game that he's reached base at least once.

Bentley is back in action Sunday, hosting Adelphi University in a 12 noon doubleheader.