CALDWELL, N.J. -- Freshman catcher Delaney Ridgell (Mt. Airy, Md.) ripped a three-run double as the key blow in a five-run third inning and graduate Kayla Daly (Babylon, N.Y.) fired a one-hit shutout to propel Caldwell softball (34-14) to a game two win and doubleheader split with East Region #3 Bentley, 8-0, on Senior Day at Caldwell Athletic Field on Friday. Bentley (28-13-1) won the opener, 5-4, in eight innings, despite a dramatic game-tying three run home run by senior 2B Courtney Grundhauser (Easton, Pa.).

In the opener, the Cougars, reated at No. 4 in the East poll, trailed, 4-0, but rallied on a fifth-inning RBI single by Ridgell and Grundhauser's blast to left center with one out. The Cougars nearly won the game in their half of the seventh but had a runner thrown out at the plate on a soph DP Allison Winters (Blairstown, N.J.) double. Then in the eight, the Falcons were able to push across the placed runner while the Cougars left theirs stranded. Senior righty Mariah Culver (Owego, N.Y.) took the hard-luck defeat, permitting just two earned runs in eight innings.

In the nightcap, the Cougars got working quickly on offense, plating single runs in the first on second on RBI singles by senior center fielder Emma Cooney (Livingston, N.J.) and Grundhauser, then broke the game open with the five-run third that featured RBi by freshman 3B Alexa Lee (Blackwood, N.J.) and freshman center fielder Olivia Magliacano (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) wrapped around Ridgell's bases-clearing two-bagger. Lee then singled in the capping run in the sixth to give the Cougars the eight-run rule win.

In a touching moment in game two, senior Taylor Mischler (Endicott, N.Y.), who has been unable to play this year due to injury, stepped in as a pinch hitter for one pitch in the sixth, to the delight of her teammates and fans.

Daly (7-3) fanned five and walked just one in the dominant performance in the circle.

The Cougars will next be in action in the CACC Tournament quarterfinals, tentatively rescheduled to Sunday at noon. Caldwell, seeded No. 2, would need one win to advance against No. 7 Bloomfield, which would have to sweep two contests to move on to the semis at Georgian Court University beginning on Thursday.