MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – The Bentley baseball team won its season-opener in thrilling fashion by scoring 14 runs in the ninth inning to topple Barry, 18-11, Friday night.

Neither team scored through the first five innings, but the floodgates started to open in the sixth inning. That's when Barry claimed a 5-0 lead, and it tacked on four more runs in the seventh to take a commanding 9-0 advantage into the eighth inning.

The Bentley bats came to life after seven innings of play. David VanderZouwen led off the eighth inning with a double, Tommy Bolton drew a walk, and Brendan Sencaj singled to load the bases with nobody out. A groundout by Stan DeMartinis III plated the first run of the game for Bentley. The next batter, Jared Barrardino, ripped a two-run double to right-center.

He later came around to score on a double by Jake Maydak, cutting the deficit to 9-4.

The score remained the same entering the ninth inning, and then Bentley did the improbable.

Once again, the Falcons loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the ninth. But the bases weren't full for long. With one swing of the bat, Sencaj brought in all three runners with a two-base hit. Nick Pappas followed with an RBI single, and just like that, Bentley trailed by a score of 11-8.

DeMartinis and Jared Berardino drew consecutive walks to load the bases yet again, and Maydak was hit by a pitch to force in a run. Jimmy Mitchell stepped to the plate and ripped a two-run double down the line to tie the score, 11-11.

With Maydak and Mitchell in scoring position, Brian Hersh was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Two batters later, Bolton forced in a run by drawing a free pass. Bentley took the lead, 12-11.

As the bases remained loaded, Sencaj was hit by a pitch, and Hersh later came in to score on a passed ball to push the lead to 14-11. DeMartinis lifted a sac fly to add on another run before Berardino launched a three-run homer.

Berardino finished the game 2-for-4 at the plate with three runs and five RBI. Sencaj also scored three times to go with his three hits and four RBI. DeMartinis, Maydak, and Mitchell each drove in two runs.

Pat Heber, the reigning Northeast 10 Northeast Division Pitcher of the Year, was solid in his 2026 debut. The southpaw earned a quality start by allowing just three earned runs through six innings. He struck out six and walked none.

Bentley remains in Florida to take on Lynn Saturday, Feb. 7, at 2 p.m.