WALTHAM, Mass. – The first career shutout by freshman lefty Kelly Ferris (Seymour, Conn./ Seymour HS), a five-hitter, gave Bentley University a 2-0 game two victory and a split of its Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division softball doubleheader with visiting Franklin Pierce University Saturday afternoon.

In the opener, Franklin Pierce (4-19, 1-9 NE-10 NE) struck for four runs in the top of the first and went on to post a 5-2 win.

Ferris, after pitching 3.1 scoreless innings of relief in the first game of the doubleheader, walked two and struck out four in blanking the Ravens in the nightcap. The biggest threat she faced was in the first when she got an inning-ending pop-out to strand the bases loaded.

Both Bentley runs were scored in the fourth inning. Junior center fielder Jackie Gauthier (Braintree/Braintree HS) led off with a double to left and senior catcher Erica Thibodeau (Cohoes, N.Y./ Shaker HS) followed with an RBI single to right. Freshman Natalie Tarantino (Arlington/Arlington HS) pinch-ran for Thibodeau, and after a single by freshman shortstop Alex Borrelli (Salem, N.H./Central Catholic HS) sent her to third, senior second baseman Laura McDonough (Braintree/Braintree HS) plated Tarentino with a sacrifice fly.

A two-run double by junior designated player Ashley Noke (Cumberland, R.I.) and RBI singles by freshman third baseman Sam Conners (Jackson, N.J.) and senior left fielder Megan Bird (Laconia, N.H.) accounted for Franklin Pierce's fast start in game one.

Bentley (9-21, 2-8 NE-10 NE) picked up single runs in the second and fifth innings, each time cutting the deficit to three. Borrelli doubled and scored on an error for the Falcons' first run, and Gauthier had an RBI double in the fifth.

Borrelli had a strong day at the plate, with two doubles, a triple and a single in six at bats. Gauthier had three hits in the twinbill, and sophomore center fielder Shannon Connor (West Haven, Conn./West Haven HS) was two-for-three in the opener.

The two teams were scheduled to play another doubleheader Sunday at Franklin Pierce, but that has been postponed due to field conditions. Next up for the Falcons is a single game at UMass-Lowell Tuesday at 3:30 pm.