Worcester, Mass. (April 12) -- In the home opener for the Assumption College baseball team, the Hounds split a doubleheader with visiting Bentley University in divisional play at Rocheleau Field. The Hounds rallied for an 8-7 win in game before dropping the eventual 15-6 final in the second game of the three-game divisional series.

Assumption has now won five of its last seven games overall and posted a 4-2 mark over the last week.

Game One
Game one was a resumed game from earlier in the season that was called due to fog, with play picked up in the top of the second and Bentley holding a 2-0 advantage.

In the top of the third, Ryan O'Connor led off with a triple to the left field fence and later came home on an RBI groundout to extend the lead to 3-0. The Hounds quickly got on the scoreboard though with a pair on a two-out rally in the bottom of the frame, starting with a walk by sophomore Ben O'Donnell (Northbridge, Mass./Northbridge). He quickly came home on an RBI triple to left by junior Colin Clancy (Chelmsford, Mass.), followed by a Matt Murphy (Wakefield, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) single to short for the Hounds' second run.

Bentley answered in the top of the third with one out as Tom Nagy launched a two-run homer to dead center for the 5-2 margin. Burton Deady added to that lead with a two-RBI triple to deep left center with two outs in the top of the fourth for a 7-2 advantage.

After a Clancy sacrifice fly started a six-run scoring rally in the bottom of the fourth, the Hounds added two more runs in the fifth to close to within 7-5. In the fifth, junior Tom Paine (Upton, Mass./Nipmuc Regional) led off the inning and later came home a triple to deep left center from sophomore Mike Coggeshall (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury). The Hounds chased the Bentley starting pitcher and loaded the bases with two outs before a line out to the pitcher ended the frame.

The Hounds took the lead in the sixth for the first time as Coggeshall took an 0-2 pitch over the right field wall and into the stadium pavilion for a three-run homer and the 8-7 edge. Assumption kept the Falcons at bay behind a solid pitching performance from senior starter Zack LaRosa (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) as he went seven innings with six strikeouts to move to 2-1 overall.

Murphy came on for the ninth, getting ahead on all three batters he faced while picking up his third save to maintain the one-run victory. Ray Rowell eventually took the loss in two innings of relief for Bentley, falling to 0-3 on the season.

Game Two
In game two, Bentley used a seven-run eighth inning to earn the split with the Hounds as the Falcons took the second game by a 15-6 final score.

The Falcons posted single runs in the second and third innings, along with a Mike Samko two-run homer to deep right in the top of the fourth that staked Bentley to a 4-0 advantage. Trailing 5-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Murphy picked up a two-out RBI single up the middle, followed by a fifth-inning sacrifice fly from freshman catcher Andrew Jaehnig (Quincy, Mass./Boston College) to make it 5-2 after five.

Bentley added two unearned runs in the sixth for a 7-2 lead and eventually led 8-2 heading to the bottom of the seventh. Sophomore Ben O'Donnell (Northbridge, Mass./Northbridge) quickly cut the lead down to 8-5 on a one-out three-run homer in the frame, followed by a bases-loaded walk for the 8-6 deficit with two innings left.

The Falcons exploded for seven runs in the eighth inning behind two hits, three walks and one error as the visitors picked up the split for the doubleheader.

For the Hounds, Murphy was 4-for-5 in game to go along with a 3-for-4 performance from Jaehnig in his first home appearance for Assumption.

Assumption is back in action on Tuesday afternoon as the Hounds host Stonehill for a 3:30 p.m. start.

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