Bentley and – Bentley University advanced to its first-ever NCAA Division II World Series, winning a comeback Game 3 at home against Molloy University, while Endicott College continued a remarkable run by reaching the Division III championship round for a fourth straight ye
For graduate outfielder Stan DeMartinis III, the moment didn’t arrive like a dramatic highlight reel. It landed the way win-or-go-home baseball often does—quietly, then all at once. In the Saturday Game 3 that sent Bentley University to the NCAA Division II World Series for the first time in program history. DeMartinis scored on a wild pitch to walk off the comeback and move the Falcons to North Carolina.
Bentley, based in Waltham, won 3-2 at home over Molloy University in the three-game Super Regional series. The Falcons erupted into a celebration that matched the stakes of the day.
“It was unbelievable. It was unbelievable and this still doesn’t feel real,” DeMartinis said during his postgame media availability. “This shows all the hard work. Today wasn’t our prettiest game, but we trust each other, battled, and we got it done.”
Bentley’s road to the finish wasn’t smooth. After splitting the first two games Thursday and Friday, the teams headed into the decisive Saturday contest. Molloy jumped ahead 1-0 in the first inning. Bentley answered by scoring two runs in the sixth.
The game tightened again in the seventh, when Molloy quickly knotted things at two runs apiece. Then Bentley found the final edge in the bottom of the ninth, taking the lead on a costly mistake by the pitcher.
On the mound, graduate pitcher Sam Bellivau of Wenham delivered an eight-inning start and struck out as many batters. Junior hurler Keegan Antelman, a native of Hudson, earned the win in relief.
Head coach Mike Hill said he was proud of a group that delivered a night unlike a typical regular-season game.
“It was definitely different than a regular season baseball game,” Hill said. “The intensity, what was at stake, obviously. I thought the guys played great.”
While Bentley wrote its own first-chapter story in Division II, Endicott College in Beverly kept building on something that already felt nearly impossible to stop.
The Endicott Gulls advanced to the Division III championship round for the fourth consecutive year, continuing a run they’ve stretched across multiple seasons. Their Super Regional victory came on the road over Salve Regina University.
Endicott topped Salve Regina in a three-game set in Newport, Rhode Island, Saturday, and took a decisive 12-4 win in Game 3 after the series had been dragged to a final contest. Endicott won Game 1 Friday. Salve Regina won a close Game 2 Saturday to force the win-or-go-home third game.
In Game 3, the Gulls delivered an offensive surge that put the outcome away quickly. Three separate Endicott batters hit home runs: Shrewsbury native AJ Hamm; TJ Liponis of Scarborough, Maine—both seniors; and Reading native Brenden Walsh, a junior.
Endicott, which won 40th game of the season, punched its fourth straight ticket to Ohio to compete in the College World Series. The run also made Endicott the first Division III baseball program since SUNY Cortland (1997-2001) to play in four consecutive championships.
Longtime head coach Bryan Haley described the achievement in terms that didn’t fit neatly into words.
“Extremely proud of what these guys did,” Haley said of his team. “I can’t even fathom the fact that we’re going to a fourth World Series and that these two young men next to me (Liponis and winning pitcher Evan Scully of Maynard) have done it four times in a row along with their teammates who are seniors.“.
Haley added, “It really just doesn’t make sense to me. I feel like we’re truly blessed. I know we are.”
For Liponis, the trophy has been the sticking point—elusive during the last three years. Still, he framed the next step less like a distant dream and more like an immediate chance to keep the group together.
“I think the biggest thing … is just staying together. I mean, we’ve created a family here and being able to be with each other for another week is gonna be awesome,” he said. “We’re gonna have a lot of fun together and just go play our baseball.”
Bentley’s and Endicott’s championship opponents and game schedules are to be determined.
Bentley University Endicott College NCAA World Series Division II Division III Molloy University Salve Regina University Super Regional