MANCHESTER, N.H. – Junior left fielder Kelsey Kennedy (Bedford, N.H./Bedford HS) had three hits for the Bentley University softball team, but the Falcons came up short in both ends of a Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division doubleheader Saturday afternoon at the SNHU Softball Field. Southern New Hampshire, which clinched the division title, prevailed 3-2 in the opener and used a seventh-inning run to take game two, 1-0.

The two losses denied Bentley a chance to make the conference championship tournament with the Falcons finishing at 14-21 overall and 10-11 in the division. Southern New Hampshire improved to 25-12 overall and 16-5 Northeast.

The opener was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when the Penmen picked up an unearned run. Junior first baseman Erin Morrissey (Commack, N.Y.) singled to right and was sacrificed to second with an error on the play allowing her to move to third. Junior catcher Jessica Torsiello (Morris Plains, N.J.) popped up to short but it was deep enough to allow freshman pinch-runner Dianna Jamgochian (Arlington) to score.

The SNHU sixth saw the home team add two runs to its lead, a home run by senior second baseman Lindsey Bolduc (Londonderry, N.H.) and an RBI single by Morrissey.

Those two runs proved to be important as Bentley scored twice in the seventh before junior righty Nicole Gubellini (Salem, N.H.) got a game-ending strikeout to strand runners on the corners. Senior catcher Jill Raia (Montville, N.J./Morristown Beard School) and junior third baseman Katelyn Lebreux (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford HS) both had RBI singles in the inning.

The nightcap was scoreless until the seventh with sophomore righty Sarah Lavallee (Candia, N.H.) pitching a one-hitter for SNHU and senior lefty Kelly Ferris (Seymour, Conn./Seymour HS) limiting the Penmen to four hits through six.

Lavallee helped herself by leading off the seventh with a single up the middle. Following a pinch-runner, a sacrifice and a strikeout, senior center fielder Mo Hannan (Scarborough, Maine) ended the game with a walk-off RBI single up the middle. It was the ninth one-run loss of the season for the Falcons.

With her three hits, Kennedy finished the season with a team-best .363 average, the best for a Bentley player since 2010.