Evan Walsh
Evan Walsh

Late Sacrifice Fly Lifts Bentley Past Assumption; Falcons Clinch NE10 Postseason Berth

WORCESTER, Mass. – An eighth-inning sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman catcher Christopher Butler (Danvers/BB&N) broke a 2-2 tie and lifted Bentley University to a 3-2 win over Assumption College in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division baseball Thursday afternoon at Rocheleau Field.

With their second win in as many days, Bentley clinched the Northeast Division's number four seed for next week's conference championship tournament.

An inning after Assumption (15-25, 6-13 Northeast) tied the game at two apiece, Falcon freshman DH Max Troiani (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Mendon HS) led off the top of the eighth with an infield single. A sacrifice bunt and a single through the left side by freshman right fielder Austin Farry (Watertown/Watertown HS) put him on third and he scored the tie-breaking run on Butler's fly ball to center.

Coach Bob DeFelice went to the bullpen after regaining the lead with sophomore Ryan Corriveau (Milton, N.H./Nute HS) pitching a scoreless eighth and classmate Luke Dawson (Stamford, Conn./Westhill HS) surviving a one-out single and a two-out error to nail down the save for starter Evan Walsh (Arlington/Arlington Catholic HS).

Walsh, a senior lefty, scattered ten hits in his seven innings of work. He struck out five and walked only one en route to his second victory of the season.

After Assumption scored the game's first run in the bottom of the first, Bentley (15-25, 9-10 Northeast) answered in its next at bat. Junior third baseman Peter Bocchino (Saugus/The Governors' Academy) led off with a single through the left side, advanced on a ground out and wild pitch and scored on a single to right by sophomore left fielder Gino Fordiani (Sudbury/Lincoln-Sudbury Reg. HS).

A two-out rally in the sixth gave Bentley its first lead of the afternoon and once again, Fordiani had the RBI. Farry reached on an error, Butler singled to left and Fordiani drove him in with a single to left.

In the Assumption eighth, sophomore Kevin Quinlivan (Shrewsbury) led off with a triple to right and scored the equalizer after an errant throw on a grounder to third.

Bentley's nine hits included two apiece by Troiani and Fordiani. Assumption totaled 12 hits with freshman center fielder RJ Libby (Middleton) a perfect 4-for-4.

The two teams will close out the regular season with single games at Assumption Saturday and Sunday.