MELBOURNE, Fla. – Maddie Baker belted her first home run of the season, but the Bentley softball team concluded its spring break trip with a nine-inning loss, 7-6, against St. Thomas Aquinas Thursday afternoon. Bentley lost the first end of the doubleheader against St. Thomas Aquinas, 8-0.

Ella Bunovsky began the second game by drawing a leadoff walk in the top of the first, and Carly DiMento drew a free pass in the very next at-bat. With one swing of the bat, Baker cleared the fences to give the Falcons an early 3-0 lead.

St. Thomas Aquinas answered with three runs in the second, and then both teams went scoreless through the seventh frame.

DiMento started the eighth inning as the automatic runner on second base. She moved up to third when Michaelle Diaz hit a single. Maddie Baker reached on an error, but DiMento stayed on third, and the Falcons had the bases loaded.

Emma Callahan lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, allowing DiMento to score the go-ahead run. Pinch-runner Bella Burke also scored on the play thanks to a bad throw.

The Spartans scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth, sending the game into another extra inning. Becca Harris started the ninth inning on second base, and she moved up a station when Katie Welch put down a sacrifice bunt. Harris came in to score on a groundout by Bailey DeLeire, putting Bentley back in front, 6-5.

However, the one-run lead wasn't enough. The Spartans walked off with a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth.

Sophie Jorjorian continued her stellar string of outings in the circle. She allowed only three earned while pitching all nine innings. She has allowed only three earned runs in her last 23.0 innings.

Bentley can catch its breath for a bit before opening Northeast 10 action at Franklin Pierce, March 21.