SPRINGFIELD, Mass. â€" Senior catcher Kristy Kehoss (Cheshire, CT) and junior designated player Jess Nelson (South Hadley, MA) each went 3-for-3 as Western New England College posted a 9-1 victory over visiting Albertus Magnus College in a first round game of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Softball Tournament Thursday afternoon.

The game was called with two outs in the fifth inning because of the mercy rule after the Golden Bears scored four times.

Kehoss also knocked in two runs and scored once, as did Nelson. Sophomore third base player Meredith Pacelli (Hamden, CT) went 2-for-3 with double, run, and RBI. Freshman Laura Bower (Hudson, MA) pitched the first three innings for the win. She is now 11-2 in her rookie season.

Albertus Magnus (10-15) took a 1-0 lead in the first on a RBI single by sophomore Breanna Wajnowski (West Haven, CT) who went 2-for-3 in the game. The Falcons had nine hits, but committed four errors that led to six unearned runs.

Western New England College (32-8) will host Norwich at 11:00 a.m. Saturday (April 29) in a second round game. The Falcons will play Pine Manor at 9:00 a.m. Saturday at Greenleaf Park in Springfield in a loser’s bracket game of the double elimination tournament.