WALTHAM, Mass. – Pitching on her home field for the final time, Bentley University senior Carly Taitz (Blue Point, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point HS) authored a six-hit shutout as the Falcons topped Merrimack College 2-0 in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division softball and the final home game of the season Thursday afternoon.

The shutout was Taitz's first since she threw a two-hitter against Queens College on March 9, 2010. She walked three and struck out two with the complete game her seventh of the year and the win her fifth.

Taitz withstood three significant scoring challenges from the Warriors. In the first, the first three hitters for Merrimack all reached, but a caught stealing and an inning-ending double play got her out of trouble. The visitors had runners on second and third with two out in the fifth, and opened the seventh with back-to-back singles. A strikeout, a bouncer back to Taitz and a fly ball to left closed out the game, giving Bentley a 6-4-1 record over its last 11 contests.

Taitz was given a 1-0 lead in the fourth when freshman designated player Halley McDevitt (San Ramon, Calif./San Ramon Valley HS) lined a ball over the right fielder and was able to circle the bases for an inside-the-park home run.

Bentley gave Taitz an insurance run in the sixth. Freshman shortstop Alex Borrelli (Salem, N.H./ Central Catholic HS) led off with a double down the left field line, was sacrificed to third and scored on a fly ball by junior right fielder Chelsea Tamuk (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Earl L. Vandermeuelen HS) that fell in just in front of the center fielder. A base runner was forced at second, denying Tamuk a hit on the play.

Senior Kelli Jo Deardorff (Bedford) pitched a five-hitter for Merrimack, finishing with four walks and one strikeout.

Bentley improved to 14-25-1 overall, 8-17-1 conference and 5-12-1 in the division while Merrimack slipped under .500 to 18-19-1. The Warriors (11-9-1 NE-10, 9-7-1 Northeast) fell a half-game back of Stonehill in the battle for the fourth playoff berth out of the division.

Bentley will finish the 2013 season with doubleheaders at St. Michael's College Saturday and Sunday, with the first pitch each day scheduled for 12 noon.