Emporia State University won by the slimmest of margins on Friday afternoon with a 1-0 victory over the University of Minnesota Duluth. The Hornets, which has won 16 of the last 17 games, advances to the NCAA Central 1 Regional Championship round. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs will reload and work from the bottom up tomorrow in the double-elimination tournament in Winona, Minn.

Emporia State was playing with fire throughout but somehow managed to escape unscathed. UMD nearly stole the pitcher's showdown but Hornets' pitcher Montana Mesler found a way to stall a seventh-inning comeback.

The Bulldogs, who had four hits and a whopping three hit batters (tying a season high), found a way to get runners on first and second with two outs but Emporia State narrowly squeaked past. UMD left nine runners on base.

Valerie Hohol delivered another clutch performance in the circle and took the tough-luck loss. Hohol (18-8) surrendered a total of six Hornet runners on base. She threw an effective 88 pitches in the contest. Hohol was tossed two or less runs in six of the last eight outings.

Both pitchers allowed only a pair of hits and racked up zeros on the scoreboard through the first three innings. The Hornets were able to scratch across the first run in the fourth. Hailey Cope led off the inning with a double in the gap. Cope got to three on a wild pitch and was knocked in by Danielle Sprinkle on a sacrifice fly.

Senior Hannah Schmoll, senior Becky Smith, freshman Jordyn Thomas and junior Kalynn Tilton compiled the four Bulldog hits with Schmoll and Tilton each registering doubles. Tilton was also one of the three hitters to get plunked. She has a team-leading 14 hit by pitches, one shy of tying Sammie Gardner's 2010 mark.

UMD has a rematch with Arkansas Tech University at 1:00 p.m. for the right to play Emporia State for the central regional 1 championship.