WALTHAM, Mass. – Franklin Pierce University, the 22^nd-ranked team in Division II this week, swept the Bentley University Falcons, 9-6 and 10-5, in a Northeast-10 Conference baseball doubleheader Saturday on DeFelice Field.

Franklin Pierce improved to 19-9 overall and 7-1 NE10 after taking three of four in the weekend series. Bentley, despite double-figure hits in both contests, dropped to 13-12 overall and 5-7 conference.

In the seven-inning opener, Bentley fell behind 9-3 as the Ravens scored once in the first, four in the second, two in the fourth and two in the seventh.

The Falcons threatened in the last of the seventh, scoring three times before stranding the bases loaded. Sophomore left fielder Stan DeMartinis III (Boca Raton, Fla./American School HS) had a sacrifice fly, junior second baseman Jackson Walonis (Walpole/Walpole HS) singled up the middle to drive in Bentley's second run of the inning and junior catcher Brian Lindsay (New Durham, N.H./Kingswood Reg. HS) drew a bases-loaded walk.

However, graduate right fielder Brian Hadden (Newburyport) earned his second save in as many days when he got a game-ending strikeout.

Senior right fielder Tim Zupkus (Middlebury, Conn./Holy Cross HS) and Lindsay each had two RBI for Bentley, and graduate first baseman Liam Sears (Springfield/Pope Francis HS), senior third baseman Steve Rizzuto (Belmont/Belmont HS) and Lindsay each had two hits.

Sophomore first baseman Jose Salimon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) drove in three runs to lead the Raven offense. He had a two-run single during the four-run second and picked up another on a ground out.

In the nightcap, Bentley owned leads of 4-1 after six and 5-4 after seven. But the Ravens scored six runs off the Falcon bullpen in the final two innings to seize control of the game. Each inning included a sacrifice fly, one by senior center fielder Joel Lara (Boston) in the eighth and one by junior third baseman Julien Monks (Cambridge) in the ninth.

Lara drove in four runs for the Ravens. In addition to the sac fly, he had a game-tying three-run homer in the seventh, erasing Bentley's 4-1 lead.

Junior second baseman Tyler Gonzalez (Windham, N.H./Lawrence Academy) was three-for-three for Bentley, raising his average to .328. He also scored once, had one RBI and a walk. Rizzuto, for the second straight game, had two singles.

Freshman right-hander Ryan Glupe (Huntington, N.T./Kellenberg Memorial HS) provided six outstanding innings of pitching for the Falcons. He scattered seven hits, gave up only one run and walked one.

Next weekend, Bentley will be at Southern New Hampshire for a four-game series, beginning with a single game on Friday afternoon.