WALTHAM, Mass. – With six everyday players, four starting pitchers and the top three relievers back from last year's squad that finished second in the Northeast-10 Conference's Northeast Division, optimism abounds as the Bentley University baseball team prepares for Bob DeFelice's 52nd season as the only head coach in program history.

Coming off a 21-21 season, Bentley opens the season this weekend with a four-game series against Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla. The two teams will play each day from Thursday through Sunday with the weekday games scheduled for 5 pm and the weekend contests set for 1 pm.

Live webcasts for all four will be available at https://sunshinestateconference.tv/rollins/.

DeFelice, the dean of active college baseball coaches nationwide, returns three 2019 All-Northeast-10 Conference players, including senior Max Troiani (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Mendon HS), a first-team honoree as well as a Cape Cod League All-Star last summer.

Troiani, Bentley's leading hitter the last two seasons and the number three hitter in the Cape League, batted .320 and slugged .566 last spring with his 56 hits including ten doubles, three triples and nine home runs. He scored 50 times, drove in 29 runs and was a perfect 17-of-17 on stolen bases.

Senior left fielder Luke Figueira (Taunton/Taunton HS) was voted to the All-NE10 second team last spring and senior first baseman Ryan Berardino (Sudbury/Lincoln-Sudbury Reg. HS) was a 34th round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox last June, as well as a third-team All-Conference honoree.

Figueira hit .279 with eight home runs, 28 RBI and a .506 slugging percentage. Berardino finished with a .296 average and was errorless in 211 chances.

Other 2019 starters back this season include graduate student Jake Pierce (East Bridgewater/East Bridgewater HS) at third base, junior shortstop Kyle Halloran (Hopkinton/Hopkinton HS) and senior catcher Christopher Butler (Danvers/BB&N).

Pierce hit .306 with 27 RBI last season. Halloran, who batted .242, will likely move to second to make room for the return of senior shortstop Chris Hopkins (Malden/Malden Catholic HS), who had his 2019 season cut short by injury after only 20 at bats.

Expected to make the opening day start for the Falcons is graduate student Paul Frisoli (Watertown/Arlington Catholic HS). The right-hander started 10 times last spring and turned in a 5-2 record and a 3.31 ERA.

Returnees also include junior righty Evan Christopulos (Andover/Andover HS), who was 4-1 with a 3.22 ERA, and senior lefty Lloyd Hill (Milton/Milton HS), who was 2-1 with a 1.91 ERA in 28 innings.

Pitching depth will also come from graduate righty Ryan Corriveau (Milton, N.H./Nute HS), senior righty Will Rossiter (Granite Springs, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic HS) and junior righty Jimmy Hodgson (Newton/Newton North HS). All three made at least 15 appearances last season.

The rotation was also strengthened with the addition of Stonehill transfer Jared Brooks (Hollis Center, Maine/Cheverus HS), a junior lefty. In two years with the Skyhawks, he was 7-5 with a 3.84 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 79.2 innings.

Bentley will be facing a Rollins team that already has six games under its belt. The Tars are 3-3 after dropping two of three last weekend to West Florida.