NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Despite four hits by Bentley University senior left fielder Shannon Connor (West Haven, Conn./West Haven HS), the Falcons were swept by Merrimack College, 2-0 and 11-6, in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division softball Wednesday afternoon at the Warrior Softball Diamond.

In the nightcap, Bentley battled back to make it a game after giving up six runs in the first and trailing 7-0 after two. The big first inning for the Warriors featured a grand slam by freshman center fielder Amanda Brush (Harleysville, Pa.).

The Falcons pulled within three with a four-spot in the fourth. Connor led off with a home run to right center, freshman second baseman Catie Noons (North Dighton/Dighton-Rehoboth Reg. HS) doubled to center and junior shortstop Alex Borrelli (Salem, N.H./Central Catholic HS) tripled her in. Later in the inning, Borrelli scored on a ground out and junior first baseman Morgan Mazone (Selkirk, N.Y./Bethlehem HS) went deep for the first time in her collegiate career.

After Merrimack (14-20, 6-6 NE-10 Northeast) got one run back in the bottom of the fourth, Bentley made it an 8-6 game with two unearned runs in its next at bat. Sophomore right fielder Chelsea Vena (Matawan, N.J./Saint John Vianney HS) scored on a wild pitch after reaching on an error, and Borrelli singled in sophomore center fielder Kelsey Kennedy (Bedford, N.H./Bedford HS), who had reached on a walk.

Bentley's comeback bid got no further and Merrimack added an insurance run in the fifth and two more in the seventh.

Borrelli, Mazone and Noons each had two hits for Bentley. For Merrimack, sophomore Kaleigh Finigan (Medford) scored three times and seven different players were credited with RBIs.

It was power and pitching for Merrimack in game one with junior Alexis Perry (Westford, Vt.) throwing a five-hitter and senior first baseman Becca Armstrong (Methuen) accounting for all of the game's scoring with a two-run homer in the second. Perry's sixth win of the season saw her walk three and strike out five.

Connor had three of Bentley's five hits with her first-inning grounder through the right side making her the eighth player in program history with 100 career singles. She finished the day with 121 career hits, putting her in a tie for ninth on the Falcons' all-time list.

The hard-luck loser was junior Kelly Ferris (Seymour, Conn./Seymour HS), who was vying for her second straight shutout. She scattered six hits and struck out three.

Bentley (5-12, 2-6 NE-10 Northeast) will be back on the road tomorrow for a 4 pm single game at Assumption.