WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley University baseball team topped No. 14 Southern New Hampshire University in a pair of pitchers' duels Saturday at DeFelice Field.  The Falcons posted a 3-1 win in the opener and recorded a 2-1 win in the nightcap.  Bentley improves to 8-8 and 4-1 in the NE-10, while the Penmen are now 17-7 and 5-3 in the league.

In the opener, Bentley grabbed a run in the fourth and tacked on two more in the fifth.  A Dante Padovani single in the fourth plated Tom Nagy to give Bentley the early lead.  The Falcons scored a pair of unearned runs in the fifth following an error on a sacrifice attempt, with a Will Brennan single knocking in both runs.

SNHU's lone run came in the seventh as Alejandro Diaz (Old Bridge, N.J.) doubled to lead off the inning and scored on an Anthony Aceto (North Providence, R.I.) groundout.  In the eighth, SNHU had Al Stanton (Sandwich, Mass.) and Riley Palmer (Goffstown, N.H.) in scoring position with one out following back-to-back singles and a sac bunt, but a pair of flyouts got Bentley out of the jam.

Ryan O'Connor got the win for Bentley, striking out nine in seven innings.  Mike Robert (Nashua, N.H.) struck out eight in five innings for the Penmen and took the loss, allowing four hits and three runs (one earned).  John Pickowicz (Hill, N.H.) allowed one hit in three innings of relief, fanning two.

Diaz, Mike Mastroberti (Ramsey, N.J.) and Matt Rabbito (Chelmsford, Mass.) each had two hits in the opener as SNHU outhit the Falcons 9-5.

Bentley jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first of game two.  SNHU grabbed its lone run in the top of the fifth as a Brendan O'Brien (East Bridgewater, Mass.) sac fly brought home Bryan Toland (Wildwood, N.J.), who had worked a leadoff walk.

Diaz and O'Brien each had two hits in the nightcap as SNHU outhit Bentley 6-3.  Tim Viehoff (Derry, N.H.) struck out 11 in seven innings of work and allowed two hits, both in the first inning, and took the loss despite retiring the final 18 batters he faced in order.  David Long went five innings for Bentley to pick up the victory.

Southern New Hampshire returns to action Tuesday when it travels to Franklin Pierce University for a key early-season showdown.  First pitch at Pappas Field is set for 3:30 pm.

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