CLERMONT, Fla. – Freshman outfielder Shannon Connor (West Haven, Conn./West Haven HS) had four hits in five at bats Friday for the Bentley University softball team, but the Falcons closed out its Florida trip with losses to both Lock Haven University, 10-2, and Mercy College, 2-0, at the National Training Center.

Those were the third and fourth games in a span of about 20 hours for the Falcons, who split a pair on Thursday. Bentley edged Minot State (N.D.), 3-2, and dropped a 4-3 decision to Millersville University Thursday night.

Against Minot (6-9), Bentley broke a 2-2 tie and scored what proved to be the winning run in the fifth. Sophomore center fielder Jackie Gauthier (Braintree, Mass./Braintree HS) reached on an error, stole second, took third on a sacrifice fly and scored on a passed ball.

In the fourth, the Falcons had picked up two runs to tie the game against the Beavers. Junior second baseman Laura McDonough (Braintree, Mass./Braintree HS) had an RBI double and scored on a single by sophomore third baseman Kelly Sanborn (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton HS).

Junior Carly Taitz (Blue Point, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point HS) went the distance to record the win, giving up five hits and two runs.

A late Bentley comeback attempt, two runs in the top of the seventh, fell just short against Millersville (2-12). After two-out walks to senior catcher Megan Blier (Wells, Maine/Wells HS) and freshman designated player Alyssa Wagner (Suffield, Conn./Suffield HS), Gauthier tripled, reducing the Falcon deficit to one. However, she was left on third as winning pitcher Ashley Cantiello  (Bristol, Pa.) was able to get a fly ball out to end the game.

Bentley took a 1-0 lead in the third on an RBI single by Thibodeau.  It would stay that way until the fifth when the Marauders erupted for their only four runs of the game.

The Falcons' six hits included two by Thibodeau, who had nine hits in 25 at bats on the trip (.360).

Friday morning, sophomore right fielder Nicole Smith (Milton, Pa.) had a double, triple and four RBI, and junior second baseman Bridgette Clarke (Bloomsburg, Pa.) drove in three runs as Lock Haven improved to 8-6. The Lady Eagles jumped on top with four runs in the second and made it 10-0 with a six-run fourth.

Connor was three-for-three for Bentley, including a two-run single in the fifth inning.

The trip concluded with Mercy sophomore Alexandra Puglisi (Shelton, Conn.) pitching a one-hitter against the Falcons, with Connor ending the no-hit bid with a fifth-inning single. Connor's four hits on Friday boosted her average to a team-high .368.

Freshman designated player Shannon Forbes (Neconset, N.Y.) singled and scored the game's first run in the second, and junior center fielder Lexi Majruy (Bayville, N.J.) doubled in a run in the third.

Bentley, 2-6, is scheduled to return to action Tuesday with a home doubleheader against Stonehill College.