LOWELL, Mass. – Freshman right-hander Marielle Handley (Durham, Conn.) pitched a three-hit shutout as UMass-Lowell blanked Bentley University, 6-0, in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division softball Tuesday afternoon at River View Field.

Handley's fourth shutout of the season saw her walk one and strike out three. She didn't allow a runner past second and faced only one scoring threat. With runners on first and second with one out in the sixth, she got back-to-back infield pop-ups to keep the Falcons off the scoreboard.

UMass-Lowell (18-18, 8-3 NE-10 Northeast) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first. Sophomore left fielder Ally Greene (Tewksbury) walked, stole second and scored on a double to left by sophomore center fielder Ariana Darcy (Walkill, N.Y.). Later in the inning, a single to right by senior first baseman Brianna Mahoney (Billerica) brought home Darcy with the River Hawks' second run.

Two walks to start the inning, a throwing error and a passed ball resulted in two unearned runs in the second and a 4-0 UML lead.

Junior third baseman Ali Ferraro (Kingston, N.Y.) made it 5-0 with an RBI single in the fifth, and Darcy capped the scoring with an RBI single in the sixth.

Bentley's hits were a second-inning single to right by senior second baseman Laura McDonough (Braintree/Braintree HS), a lead-off single to right by junior center fielder Jackie Gauthier (Braintree/ Braintree HS) in the fourth, and a double to right by sophomore left fielder Shannon Connor (West Haven, Conn./West Haven HS) in the sixth.

Bentley, 9-21 overall and 2-9 NE-10 NE, will play a doubleheader at Franklin Pierce Thursday at 3 pm.