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On May 10, 2026, Bentley University baseball delivered the kind of weekend every Division II program dreams about but few ever experience. The Falcons captured their first Northeast 10 Conference championship in program history, then learned that not only were they headed to the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship for the first time, they would enter as the East Region’s No. 1 seed and host an NCAA regional on their own field in Waltham, Massachusetts.
For a longtime Division II member with a proud athletic tradition across multiple sports, this breakthrough on the diamond marks a turning point. The 2026 Falcons did not simply sneak into the postseason. They finished off the NE10’s top seed in a dramatic 11–9 championship win, rewrote several school records along the way, and earned the respect of regional and national evaluators as one of the most complete teams in the East.
Bentley’s title-clinching performance in Manchester, New Hampshire, had a bit of everything: early power, clutch pitching, and late-inning drama against a battle-tested Southern New Hampshire team. Playing in the NE10’s double-elimination tournament, the Falcons went 3–0 on the weekend and secured the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with Sunday’s victory over the top-seeded Penmen.
The championship game followed the blueprint that has driven Bentley’s rise: jump ahead early, lean on a deep lineup, and trust a pitching staff that limits free passes. In the first inning, infielder Jared Berardino set the tone with a two-run home run, immediately putting Southern New Hampshire under pressure.
Two innings later, Bentley broke the game open. A four-run third inning highlighted the Falcons’ depth. Brendan Sencaj delivered an RBI single, and then infielder Jake Maydak blasted a three-run homer to stretch the lead to 7–0. In a conference final against a perennial power, it was a statement swing and a sign that Bentley’s offense, already known as one of the more explosive lineups in the NE10, had brought its best when the stakes were highest.
Southern New Hampshire, however, refused to go quietly. The Penmen answered with four runs in the fifth inning to trim the deficit and inject drama into a game that once looked like a runaway. Bentley responded in the way good postseason teams do: with another surge.
The Falcons scored three more in the seventh, rebuilding their cushion and carrying an 11–4 advantage into the ninth. At that point, it looked like a comfortable march to the program’s first NE10 trophy. Instead, the final three outs became a defining test of Bentley’s poise.
Southern New Hampshire loaded the bases in the ninth and launched a grand slam to cut the lead to 11–8, then tacked on another run to bring the tying run to the plate. What had been a seven-run margin quickly shrank to two, and the Penmen, long a regional force, suddenly had all the momentum.
Bentley turned to closer Keegan Antelman with two outs and the championship hanging in the balance. Antelman did exactly what a championship closer is supposed to do: he attacked. He struck out two hitters and induced a fly ball to end the threat, locking down the 11–9 win and setting off a celebration decades in the making.
The late-inning fireworks overshadowed how thoroughly Bentley controlled the game on the mound for most of the afternoon. Starter Sam Belliveau delivered 5.2 innings without allowing an earned run, limiting the damage and giving the Falcons’ offense time to build its lead. Reliever Evan McCarthy followed by keeping Southern New Hampshire hitless through the eighth, bridging the gap to the final frame where Antelman slammed the door.
That pitching performance was not an outlier. Throughout the 2026 season, Bentley’s staff paced the NE10 in strikeouts and issued the fewest walks of any team in the league. That combination of swing-and-miss stuff and command is exactly what Division II coaches and scouts look for when assessing which teams are built for postseason success. According to NCAA Division II statistics, staffs that control walks and pile up strikeouts tend to fare best in regional play and beyond, particularly when facing unfamiliar lineups over multiple days of tournament action (https://www.ncaa.com/stats/baseball/d2).
On offense, Bentley’s box score in the NE10 championship reads like the culmination of a veteran lineup’s season-long work. The Falcons out-hit Southern New Hampshire 15–5, with production spread across the order.
Sencaj shined brightest on the stat sheet, going 4-for-6. Championship MVP Nick Pappas and outfielder Stan DeMartinis III each collected three hits, showing why they have been central figures in Bentley’s offensive surge. In a game where every at-bat mattered, the Falcons’ upperclassmen delivered.
The title game also served as a showcase for just how deep Bentley’s lineup has become. Before the NE10 tournament even began, Pappas and fellow infielder Tommy Bolton had already etched their names into the school record book: Pappas set the single-season hits record, while Bolton established a new single-season mark for walks. Those numbers reflect a lineup that combines patience and power, a blend that is increasingly valuable in modern college baseball.
DeMartinis, meanwhile, enters the NCAA tournament as one of the most dangerous bats in program history. Earlier in the spring, he broke both Bentley’s career and single-season home run records, blasting his 44th career homer and 20th of the season. That kind of game-changing power is rare at any level, and it has helped position Bentley among the NE10’s home run leaders.
By the time the Falcons hoisted the NE10 trophy, their 11–9 win had pushed the overall record to 39–13, extending what was already the most successful season the program had ever seen. The numbers behind that record underline how comprehensive the improvement has been:
Left-hander Pat Heber, another cornerstone of the Falcons’ rise, became Bentley’s all-time strikeout leader earlier in the spring. His presence atop the record books highlights both his own consistency and the level of pitching development within the program.
The Northeast 10’s own postseason coverage underscored how far Bentley has come. The conference noted that Bentley had its name called in the NCAA Division II bracket for the first time and emphasized the Falcons’ offensive firepower after they scored 11 runs in the championship final (https://northeast10.org/news/2026/5/11/baseball-bentley-no-1-seed-snhu-also-makes-ncaa-field.aspx).
Later on May 10, as the Falcons came down from their on-field celebration, the NCAA selection announcement delivered another milestone. Bentley learned that it would not only make its first appearance in the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship, but it would do so as a No. 1 seed and regional host.
The Falcons were assigned as the top seed in East Region 1 and will host a three-team regional at Robert DeFelice Baseball Field. Joining them in Waltham are Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference members Wilmington and Goldey-Beacom. NE10 rival Southern New Hampshire, despite the loss in the conference final, also earned an NCAA berth and will compete in a separate East Region pod hosted by Molloy.
Regional play is scheduled for May 14–16. The winners of the two East Region pods will then advance to a best-of-three super regional, with the champion moving on to the Division II College World Series in Cary, North Carolina. For Bentley, that path represents both a challenge and an opportunity: the chance to turn a historic season into a deep national run.
Hosting privileges in Division II baseball are not handed out lightly. They are rooted in the full-season body of work: record, strength of schedule, regional rankings, and how a team performs down the stretch. Landing a No. 1 seed and the right to host confirms that Bentley is not simply a feel-good story. The Falcons are viewed by the NCAA regional committee as one of the East’s best teams, if not the best.
Playing at home can offer significant advantages in postseason play. Teams sleep in their own beds, follow familiar routines, and compete on surfaces and in dimensions they know well. In college baseball, where ballpark size and weather can impact game plans, that comfort level can matter. Studies of home-field advantage across NCAA sports consistently show tangible performance benefits for host teams, especially in multi-day tournaments where pitching depth is tested and routines are critical (https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2018/5/10/research.aspx).
For Bentley University, hosting also means the chance to put its baseball program in front of the broader campus community. Students, alumni, and local supporters will have the opportunity to watch NCAA postseason baseball in Waltham, something that had never happened before. For recruits and families, seeing an NE10 champion and NCAA host on campus can reshape how they think about Bentley as a baseball destination.
Zooming out, Bentley’s 2026 season illustrates a broader trend within Division II baseball: programs that invest in player development, data-driven pitching, and modern offensive approaches can rise quickly, even in conferences with established powers like Southern New Hampshire.
The Falcons’ balance of power, plate discipline, and run prevention aligns with where the college game is headed. They hit for extra bases, draw walks, and rely on strikeout-heavy arms that limit big innings. That skill set travels well into NCAA regional play, where every opponent is good enough to punish mistakes.
For high school athletes eyeing Division II opportunities, Bentley’s climb is a case study in what to look for in a program:
If you are trying to evaluate whether a school like Bentley might be a fit for your academic and athletic goals, tools like Pathley’s College Fit Snapshot can help you see how your GPA, test scores, and baseball profile line up with a specific college.
As Bentley turns the page from celebration to preparation, the Falcons know the margin for error shrinks in mid-May. Wilmington and Goldey-Beacom arrive in Waltham fully capable of spoiling a host’s party. Every pitch and every at-bat will be magnified.
Still, the foundation seems solid. Bentley is playing at home, backed by a lineup that has proven it can score in bunches and a pitching staff that leads the conference in strikeouts. The Falcons have faced pressure, too, from navigating a tough NE10 schedule to surviving Southern New Hampshire’s furious ninth-inning rally in the title game.
Regardless of how far Bentley advances in the 2026 bracket, this team has already secured a permanent place in the university’s baseball history. The first NE10 title, the first NCAA bid, the first time hosting a regional: those milestones will be remembered long after the last out of the season is recorded.
For prospective student-athletes, Bentley’s 2026 run is more than a headline. It is a signal that the program is entering a new tier of competitiveness. When a school consistently sets win records, sends multiple players to all-conference teams, and breaks long-standing offensive and pitching marks, it suggests a strong culture and a clear development plan.
If you are a high school baseball player interested in programs like Bentley, it helps to build a targeted recruiting plan instead of just sending mass emails to every Division II coach. Start by researching the school’s roster, academic offerings, and recent performance. Tools like Pathley’s Analyze Team Roster feature can help you see where a team might have positional needs over the next few recruiting cycles, which can sharpen your outreach strategy.
You can also explore the broader college baseball landscape using Pathley’s Baseball Pathley Hub, which brings together college baseball programs, ranking lists, and event information to help you identify schools that fit your level, position, and goals.
For students who like the idea of a strong academic environment near Boston and want to compare different campus cultures, another nearby option is Brandeis University in Waltham. While Brandeis competes in a different athletic context, it offers a similar New England setting and rigorous academics, giving recruits and families an additional point of comparison as they build out their target school list.
Watching a program like Bentley break through is a reminder that great opportunities exist at every level of college baseball, from Division I to Division III and NAIA. The challenge for most families is figuring out where to start and how to narrow thousands of choices down to a realistic, high-upside list.
Pathley is built to make that process easier. You can use the Pathley College Directory to explore schools across divisions, filter by location or size, and save colleges that look like a fit. When you are ready to get more personalized, Pathley Chat at https://app.pathley.ai/ acts as an AI recruiting assistant, helping you discover programs that match your academic profile, budget, position, and level of play.
If you want to turn your research into action, you can also build a clean, coach-ready resume using Pathley’s tools and start reaching out to programs that resemble what Bentley has built in 2026: strong academics, a clear developmental identity, and a competitive on-field product.
Whether your path leads to Bentley University, a nearby campus like Brandeis University, or another program entirely, the key is finding a school where you can thrive on the field, in the classroom, and in your future career. Bentley’s first NE10 title and NCAA regional hosting opportunity are proof that the right fit can grow into something special, for both the program and the players who choose it.
