Waltham, Mass. (May 2) -- Led by a three-run eighth inning to regain the lead for good, the Assumption College baseball team picked up a 7-6 road victory over Bentley University on Friday afternoon in the opening game of a three-game divisional series.

Assumption jumped to a 4-0 lead right away with a four-run first, started by a leadoff double to left by senior Ysander Figueroa (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Tech). After Figueroa came home on an RBI single to right by junior Billy Johnson (Auburn, Mass./Holy Name), freshman Mike Coggeshall (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) capped the inning with a three-run home run to right for the 4-0 advantage.

The Falcons struck for four in the bottom of the fourth as Mike Muir's RBI groundout got Bentley on the board at 4-1. Bentley tied the game with three straight two-out RBI hits and the game remained that way until the bottom of the seventh. The Falcons took their first lead of the game with two outs in the frame on an RBI triple to center by Tom Nagy to score Will Brennan for the 5-4 edge. Brennan eventually finished the game a perfect 5-for-5 with two runs scored in the game.

The Hounds answered right back in the top of the eighth as an RBI groundout by Figueroa scored sophomore Colin Clancy (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) to tie the game at 5-5. Sophomore Michael Panza (West Haven, Conn./Notre Dame) put the visitors in front on an RBI single up the middle, followed by an RBI triple to center by Johnson for the eventual game-winning run and the 7-5 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Figueroa came on to pitch to open the inning. Brennan capped off his perfect day with an RBI triple for the Falcons to pull within 7-6, but Figueroa ended the game with two straight strikeouts to pick up his team-best sixth save of the season.

Sophomore Kevin O'Connor (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) went five innings in the start, scattering seven hits with four runs and six strikeouts. Senior Patrick Coleman (Newark, Del./Salesianum St. Elizabeth) picked up the win to improve to 3-0 on the season as he went two innings of relief with three hits, one run allowed and one strikeout. Figueroa, who is now tied for fourth in the Northeast-10 with six saves, allowed two hits with one run and a pair of strikeouts.

Ryan O'Connor took the loss in relief for Bentley, going one inning with three hits, three runs allowed and one walk as he dropped to 5-4 overall.

Assumption improves to 18-19 overall and 9-10 in the division, while Bentley drops to 21-15 overall and 12-6 in divisional play.

Assumption is back in action on Saturday, May 3rd for a 3 p.m. start in Waltham vs. Bentley.

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