Nick Williams
Nick Williams

Bentley Strikes for 5 in 10th in Come-From-Behind 8-3 Win over Stonehill

EASTON, Mass. – Freshman lefty Nick Williams (Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest HS) pitched 4.1 innings of scoreless relief and sophomore third baseman Mike Samko (Arlington/BB&N) ignited a five-run tenth inning with a lead-off double as Bentley University rallied for an 8-3 win over Stonehill College in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division baseball at Lou Gorman Field Wednesday afternoon.

Williams entered the game in the sixth with two out and runners on the corners. He got out of the inning when senior right fielder Eric Schneider (Camarillo, Calif.) was cut down at home on the front end of a double steal. Williams allowed only two singles the rest of the way and struck out three while earning his first career victory.

After opening the tenth with the double, Samko moved to third on an errant throw on a pickoff attempt. Senior shortstop Zachary Littman (Abington/Abington HS) was hit by a pitch and grad student Mike Muir (Bridgewater/Xaverian Bros. HS) walked to load the bases. An error on a grounder to short by junior shortstop Justin Ashworth (Orange, Conn./Amity Regional HS) allowed Samko to score the go-ahead run with the bases remaining loaded.

RBI singles by freshman right fielder Brandon Grover (Rocky Hill, Conn./Rocky Hill HS) and sophomore DH Nick Neshe (Waltham/Waltham HS) made it a 6-3 game. The seventh run scored on a sacrifice fly by senior catcher Bryan Rocha (Rehoboth/Dighton-Rehoboth Reg. HS) and Grover came in from third with the eighth run on a passed ball.

Bentley, which trailed 3-1 after seven, tied the game with two runs in the eighth. Neshe led off with a triple and scored on a passed ball. Three walks and two sacrifices later, an error allowed Rocha to score the tying run.

Neshe had three of Bentley's ten hits, raising his average to a team-best .368, and Grover was two for five. Schneider led Stonehill with three hits, including a two-run homer in the fourth, and three RBI.

Bentley improved to 6-13 overall after winning its first divisional game of the season in four attempts. Stonehill dropped to 11-9 overall and 0-3 in the division.