WALTHAM, Mass. – "Unbelievably young" is how Bentley University baseball coach Bob DeFelice describes his team as he begins his 49th season at the helm with a three-game series at nationally-ranked University of Tampa this weekend.

The Falcons and Spartans, who are opening the season against each other for the sixth straight season, will play 6:00 games on Friday and Saturday before wrapping up the series at noon Sunday. Links for live video of all three games from the Tampa Baseball Field will be available at www.bentleyfalcons.com.

DeFelice, who made his debut as Bentley's head coach  back when Richard Nixon was in the White House and Bill Russell was still a player-coach for the Boston Celtics, is now the longest-tenured active NCAA baseball coach following the retirement of Texas' Augie Garrido following last season.

DeFelice will head into the season opener with just eight players who have played in an official game for Bentley, and therefore will have freshmen seeing significant playing time. Five players were lost to graduation following a 15-25 season a year ago, and three returnees are currently sidelined due to injury or other medical reasons.

Pitching is expected to be an asset for the 2017 Falcons with both depth and experience. Leading the way is grad student and right-hander Bill Sullivan (Carver/Carver), who started 11 games last year and pitched to a 4-5 record with a 4.82 ERA. He led last year's team in wins, starts, innings (71.0) and strikeouts (54).

Seniors Jack Burke (Reading/St. John's Prep HS), a righty, and Evan Walsh (Arlington/Arlington Catholic HS), a lefty, also saw significant action on the mound a year ago. Walsh started nine games overall and had a 2.64 ERA against Northeast-10 opponents. Burke, used mostly out of the pen, finished with a 1-3 record, two saves and a 5.23 ERA in 13 appearances.

Sophomore righty Luke Dawson (Stamford, Conn./Westhill HS) earned two saves and a win during nine appearances last spring.

As far as everyday players, outfielders Nick Neshe (Waltham/Waltham HS) and Brandon Grover (Rocky Hill, Conn./Rocky Hill HS) are the only returning starters.  Neshe, a junior, led Bentley in hitting at .343 and runs scored (29). He was also effective out of the bullpen, with a 2.70 ERA and a .158 opponents' batting average in seven appearances. Grover, a sophomore, batted .248 with two homers and 17 RBI during his rookie season.

Junior catcher Liam Matheson (Yarmouth Port/Dennis-Yarmouth Reg. HS) is the only other healthy Falcon with who has previously started a game for Bentley. He appeared in 14 games last season, seven of those as a starter, and hit .225 in 40 at bats.

Among the newcomers is St. Michael's College transfer Peter Bocchino (Saugus/Governors Academy). During his two years with the Purple Knights, the infielder hit .215 with 15 doubles and three homers.

Tampa, ranked second nationally and two years removed from its most recent national championship, returns seven hitters who hit over .300, including three who were over .400, last year. Kevin Santa led the club at .447 and J.D. Osborne led the Spartans with 13 homers and 59 RBI.

The pitching staff features senior righty Christopher Williams, who won ten games in 12 decisions in 2016. He struck out just under nine per nine innings and finished with a 3.53 ERA.

This will be the first of four trips to the Sunshine State for DeFelice's team, which is scheduled for more games in Florida this spring (15) than at home (13). They'll head back south for three games from Feb. 17-19, five from March 5-9 and four from March 17-19.