GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – Junior Payton Doiron (Beacon Falls, Conn./St. Joseph HS) and sophomore Dahlia Fink (Sherman Oaks, Calif./Notre Dame HS) combined on a five-hit shutout as Bentley University won the first NCAA Division II East Regional game in program history, 2-0 over Caldwell University Thursday at Adelphi University's Janet L. Ficke Field.

The fourth-seeded Falcons, 29-14-1, survived a Caldwell triple play to move into Friday morning's winner's bracket game against top-seeded and nationally-ranked Adelphi. The Panthers came from behind to edge eighth-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas in the day's first game, 3-2 in nine innings.

All of the game's runs were scored in the second inning. Singles by graduate catcher Ella Hillier (Tualatin, Ore./Tualatin HS) and Fink, the designated player, opened the inning. Senior first baseman Kaylee Mankins (North Attleboro, Mass./North Attleboro HS) reached on a fielder's choice and Hillier scored on a throwing error on the play.

Later in the inning, senior third baseman Jess Trahan (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack HS) singled to right center, driving in Mankins from second.

Bentley had a chance to extend the lead in the fourth when Fink singled and Mankins doubled to put two runners in scoring position with no outs. However, Caldwell turned a grounder to short into a triple play, bringing a sudden end to the inning.

Defense was strong for the Falcons, but not so much for Caldwell (35-18), which made four errors. Sophomore All-East left fielder Jordan Krause (San Pedro, Calif./San Pedro HS) made a diving catch to end the fourth inning.  In the sixth, with the bases loaded, senior second baseman Katherine Noftall (Ipswich, Mass./Ipswich HS) fielded a ground ball, tagged the runner and threw to first for an inning-ending double play.

Doiron, who broke the Bentley career record for strikeouts earlier in the game, was lifted after the Cougars loaded the bases in the sixth. Fink came in for the five-out save, her fifth of the season, and struck out two in the seventh before fielding a grounder for the game's final out.

Doiron (16-5) matched the school record for wins in a season and surpassed Tara Fogarty '11 as the program's all-time strikeout leader, finishing the game with 279.

Friday's Bentley-Adelphi game will get underway at 10 am with an elimination game between Caldwell and St. Thomas Aquinas following.