WALTHAM, Mass. – A wildly historic 2026 Bentley baseball season achieved new heights by winning the NCAA DII East Regional title in dramatic fashion Saturday afternoon.
Stan DeMartinis III scored the game-winning, walk-off run on a wild pitch to seal a 3-2 win over Molloy, and send the Falcons to the NCAA DII World Series for the first time in program history.
Saturday's historic win was the third game in a best-of-three NCAA East Super Regional series between Bentley and Molloy.
Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, DeMartinis was hit by a pitch with the count full.
Brendan Sencaj followed by hitting a single, and DeMartinis advanced 90 feet. Both runners moved up a base when
David VanderZouwen grounded out. However, it was the second out of the inning.
Jackson Wilburn, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning, was up next. Wilburn saw a couple of pitches before
the wild pitch. The pitch in the dirt careened off the catcher up the first-base line, and DeMartinis ran down the third-base line with both arms raised above his head.
Bentley starting pitcher
Sam Belliveau outstanding. He struck out eight batters through his 8.0 innings on the hill. Belliveau's only real blemish was a solo home run in the first inning.
Keegan Antelman earned the win by pitching a hitless ninth inning while striking out two. He improved his season record to 5-0.
The Falcons trailed 1-0 up until the sixth inning.
Brendan Sencaj led off the bottom of the sixth by working the count full before launching a solo homer over the left-field fence. It was Bentley's second hit of the game.
Curt Heath immediately followed by smacking an opposite-field single to left. Two batters later, Tommy Gonnan was hit by a pitch, and
Jimmy Mitchell loaded the bases by drawing a four-pitch walk. Bolton then hit into a fielder's choice that scored Mitchell to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead.
Molloy scored the tying run in the seventh inning, setting up Bentley's monumental walk-off win.
The NCAA DII World Series is in Cary, North Carolina, May 29 – June 6. More information will follow in the coming days.
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