New Hampshire Hardball

SNHU earns No. 1 seed

NORTH ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Two of the best offenses in Division II are the top two seeds in this week’s Northeast 10 Baseball Championship. Southern New Hampshire is the No. 1 seed and will host championship weekend in Manchester. Bentley, which took two of three from the Penmen early in conference play, earned the two slot.

SNHU went on a hot streak over the season’s final six weeks, averaging nearly 20 runs a game for a wide stretch and posting numbers that would have ranked the Penmen as one of the top five offenses in the nation if spread over the entire season.  SNHU enters the NE10 Championship with one of the top 10 slugging percentages in America, led by Jake Pisano who, has established himself as one of the top hitters in program history.

Bentley was also about power this spring, touting two of the top 30 home run hitters in Division II in senior Stan DeMartinis III and senior Jared Berardino.  DeMartinis finished the regular season as one of the top 10 sluggers in the country and the single-season home run leader in Bentley history.  He was joined by the bats of Brendan Sencaj, Berardino and Nick Pappas (the conference’s leader in hits) as the top power offense in the league.

This spring marks the first time since 2012 that the NE10 played without divisions in baseball and, thus, the first time in over a decade there has been an outright regular season champion declared. It’s the first time in SNHU history that the Penmen have won the title in a non-divisional format. Southern New Hampshire won the Northeast Division crown eight times while that format was used, including in seven of the previous eight years.

SNHU now sets out for its fifth conference postseason title. Bentley is in search of its first conference postseason title. The Falcons were last runners up in 1987.

Saint Anselm and Adelphi earned the three and four seeds.  The Hawks have been led by one of the top hitters for average in the country this spring in George Slauson, while John Carver has, yes, carved up opposing bats from the mound for AU.  Saint Michael’s slides into the five spot while defending champion Pace is the No. 6 seed.

Championship play begins Tuesday afternoon at the sites of the higher seeded teams with SNHU and Bentley earning byes. Seeds three through six play a single elimination game Tuesday to earn a spot among the weekend four.

1. Southern New Hampshire (30-6)
2. Bentley (28-8)
3. Saint Anselm (21-15)
4. Adelphi (20-16)
5. Saint Michael’s (18-18)
6. Pace (17-19)

Tuesday, May 5th – First Round (single elimination)
Game 1: #6 Pace at #3 Saint Anselm (2:30pm)
Game 2: #5 Saint Michael’s at #4 Adelphi- TBA

Thursday, May 7th, Friday, May 8th & Saturday, May 9th  (to be hosted by SNHU)
Game 3: G2 winner vs. #1 SNHU
Game 4: G1 winner vs. #2 Bentley
Game 5: G3 loser vs. G4 loser
Game 6: G3 winner vs. G4 winner
Game 7: G5 winner vs. G6 loser
Game 8: G6 winner vs. G7 winner
Game 9: If necessary game.

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