TAMPA, Fla. – The Bentley University baseball team received quality pitching Sunday afternoon, but the University of Tampa, ranked second nationally in Division II, used two late runs to pull out a 2-1 victory over the Falcons in non-conference action at the UT Baseball Field.

The Spartans, down 1-0 after a fourth-inning Bentley run, got the equalizer in the bottom of the eighth and completed the three-game season-opening sweep with a two-out walk-off run in the ninth. Sophomore left fielder Connor Obrochta (Gulfport, Fla.) led off with a single through the left side, and after freshman lefty Ryan O'Connor (Newburyport, Mass./Newburyport HS) retired the next two with a fly out and a strikeout, stole second base.

Junior shortstop Anthony Caronia (Orlando, Fla.) followed with his sixth hit of the series, a single through the right side that drove in Obrachta with the winning run.

Bentley (0-3) picked up its first run of the season off Chicago White Sox 10th-round draft pick Ben O'Shea (Reading, Mass.) when senior left fielder Mark Lane (Tyngsboro, Mass./Tyngsboro HS) extended the fourth inning by reaching on a third-strike passed ball, took second on another passed ball and scored on a single to left by senior first baseman Kevin Korwek (Madison, Conn./Daniel HS).

It stayed that way until the eighth, with Bentley pitchers Rob Finneran (Garden City, N.Y./ Garden City HS), Lamarre Rey (Lynn/Pingree School) and O'Connor limiting Tampa to just one hit through seven.  Finneran, a grad student who missed last year following Tommy John surgery, pitched three no-hit innings with a walk and three strikeouts. Rey took over for the middle three and allowed a fifth-inning single and a walk before giving way to O'Connor in the seventh.

The Falcons had chances to add to their lead several times. They had two on with one out in the fifth, but the Spartans used a strikeout and a pickoff to get out of trouble, and in the seventh, Tampa again got out of a first-and-second, one-out situation without damage. In the eighth, Bentley had runners on first and second with no outs, and was unable to score.

Tampa manufactured the tying run in the eighth. Senior second baseman Raiko Alfonso (Key West, Fla.) drew a lead-off walk, stole second and scored on a single to left center by junior center fielder Andrew Jones (Doylestown, Ohio).

Bentley outhit the Spartans 6-4 with junior second baseman Logan Gillis (Merrimack, N.H./ Lawrence Academy) and grad student Bryant Johnson (Hopedale, Mass./Milford HS) each having two singles.

Bentley will return to Florida in less than two weeks for a four-game series at Rollins College Feb. 16-19.