SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Three different Falcons hit home runs, and
Zach Eigenbrod struck out at least 10 batters for his third consecutive start as the No. 19/21 Bentley baseball team won both ends of a doubleheader at American International Saturday afternoon.
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Bentley 13, American International 4
Stan DeMartinis III clubbed his 16
th home run of the season, bringing him to within three home runs of tying the single-season Bentley record. His head coach,
Mike Hill, holds the record.
DeMartinis belted a two-run shot in the first inning, which gave the Falcons (28-10, 20-5 NE10) a 3-0 lead.
Nick Pappas scored on the homer after hitting an RBI single.
DeMartinis and
Brendan Sencaj led off the third inning with consecutive singles. The pair moved up a base on an AIC error, and they both scored when
Tommy Goonan's single increased the Bentley lead to 6-0.
Similarly to Goonan,
Jimmy Mitchell hit a two-run single in the sixth inning. Sencaj and
Curt Heath both scored on the play.
Jake Maydak and
Tommy Bolton each hit an RBI single in the eighth inning.
Heath finished the game 4-for-5. It was his third four-hit game of the season. Sencaj finished the game 3-for-5 at the dish. Both he and DeMartinis scored four runs.
Starting pitcher
Pat Heber (5-1) earned his fifth win of the season after working seven innings on the hill. He surrendered just three earned runs on eight hits, marking his fifth quality start of the season.
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Bentley 5, AIC 2 (7 inn.)
Zach Eigenbrod improved to 6-1 on the season after striking out 10 batters in his six-inning outing. He allowed only two earned runs. Through his past three starts, Eigenbrod has 37 strikeouts in 19.0 innings. His ERA is 1.42 during that stretch.
Neither team scored until the fifth inning, and Bentley did the honors.
Curt Heath hit a one-out single, and he advanced to third base when
Jimmy Mitchell reached on a throwing error by the pitcher. With
Brian Hersh up at bat, the Falcons executed the squeeze bunt to take a 1-0 lead. Mitchell went to second base on the play, and he came in to score on a single by
David VanderZouwen.
Bentley saved the fireworks for the sixth inning.
Nick Pappas belted a solo home run for his seventh dinger of the year.
Stan DeMartinis III followed with a single, and he trotted home when
Brendan Sencaj crushed his 10
th homer of the year.
Keegan Antelman earned his third save of the season by shutting the door on the Yellow Jackets in the seventh inning.
Bentley and AIC have another doubleheader Monday, April 20, starting at 12 p.m.
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