COLCHESTER, Vt. – Bentley University junior right-hander Payton Doiron (Beacon Falls, Conn./St. Joseph HS), who had a no-hitter earlier in the season, came within two outs of a five-inning perfect game Saturday against St. Michael's College in Northeast-10 Conference softball at Doc Jacobs Field.

Bentley captured the game 13-0 after scoring four times in the first, four in the second, twice in the third and three times in the fourth.

Game belonged to St. Michael's with the Purple Knights prevailing 11-4 after trailing 3-1 after two-and-a-half.

Despite its second split in as many days, Bentley (18-10, 9-3 NE10) remained at the top of the conference standings with Adelphi (7-3) and Pace (7-3) both a game back.

Doiron, who retired the first 13 batters she faced, lost her bid for a second no-no and perfection when junior second baseman Angelica Johns (Westbrook, Maine) doubled to center with one-out in the fifth. Doiron struck out ten of the 16 batters she faced on the frigid Vermont afternoon. The win was her eighth of the season and she now has 90 strikeouts in 69.2 innings.

Bentley had 14 hits in the game, with graduate  catcher Ella Hillier (Tualatin, Ore./Tualatin HS), the program's all-time leader in RBI and doubles, three-for-three with three runs scored, three RBI and a stolen base.

Senior first baseman Kaylee Mankins (North Attleboro, Mass./North Attleboro HS) matched Hillier in the hits and RBI column, and sophomore designated player Dahlia Fink (Sherman Oaks, Calif./Notre Dame HS) had two hits and two RBI. Scoring three times apiece were sophomore left fielder Jordan Krause (San Pedro, Calif./San Pedro HS), who is now hitting a lofty .463, and junior right fielder Kylee Amato (Bergenfield, N.J./Acad. of the Holy Angels HS).

 Bentley claimed the early lead in game two, taking a 3-1 lead on RBI singles by Krause, senior third baseman Jess Trahan (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack HS) and Mankins.

However, the Purple Knights came alive and put up two runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings. That was followed by four in the sixth to break it open.

St. Michael's (10-12, 3-3 NE10) went deep twice, junior catcher Meghan Connor (St. Albans, Vt.) in the third and sophomore first baseman Jenna Devens (Parsippany, N.J.) in the sixth.

The sixth inning for Bentley included the first career home run for junior catcher Gabriella Longo (Northport, N.Y./Northport HS). Hillier, the DP in game two, had two more hits, raising her season average to .372.

Bentley wraps up its six-game road trip with a 3 pm doubleheader at American International Tuesday.