Rochester, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Duluth softball team (38-11 overall, 22-6 NSIC) defeated Winona State 4-1 on Thursday to advance in the winners' bracket of the NSIC Tournament. The Bulldogs will now take on top-seeded Augustana in the tournament semifinals on Friday, May 5 at 12:00 p.m. at the RYFSA Complex in Rochester, Minn. 

The jury's out- Lauren Dixon is good at softball. This was on display right away against the Warriors, as the NSIC Pitcher of the Year sandwiched a foulout between two K's to retire all three batters she faced in the top of the first inning. Something else that's becoming pretty clear- UMD's bats are more than capable of supplementing this defense. On Wednesday, the Bulldogs did it through the art of sacrifice- Thursday, they simply demonstrated solid hitting. Funny enough, it was again Sidney Zavoral that kicked off the scoring, this time with a single that drove in Kiana Bender from second to make it 1-0 UMD. 

A double play at first base from the Bulldog defense put the Warriors behind early in the top of the second, but they'd rebound to land two runners on. Still, a groundout would spell the end of WSU's scoring chances in the frame. This set the stage for UMD's bats to add to the advantage, and they'd do just that- with a little bit of power. With two outs on the board, Bender went from driving in a run with her legs to bringing in two with the swing of her bat, the junior's team-leading 15th double scoring both Nicole Schmitt and Julia Gronholz to make it 3-0 Bulldogs. The top of the third would then take on a familiar tone, as WSU would be dinged with two quick outs only to start threatening for the remainder of the inning. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, the outcome was the same, and all runners ended up being stranded. 

UMD's offense would land some baserunners itself in the bottom of the third, sitting with two on with two outs on the board, but it wouldn't lead to a lead increase just yet. That'd instead take place in the bottom of the fourth. After a lineout-groundout-groundout affair from Dixon and company in the top of the frame, the Bulldogs struck with some more power. Continuing the flare for drama, UMD again waited until it was down to its last out for someone to strike, this time Corrie Weise. The junior landed a double of her own to send Dea Deleon in to score and up the Bulldog lead to 4-0.

What a top of the fifth it proved to be for Dixon. She gave up a hit, but she can probably live with that considering the other three at-bats of the frame ended in strikeouts. Soon enough, we were in the sixth, and UMD's defense was still dealing. A fielder's choice was followed by a lineout and a popout to leave the Warriors with one more shot to do some damage offensively. The seventh and final frame did end up being WSU's best from the plate. The Warriors even drove in a run courtesy of a Carly Engelhardt single to make it 4-1. Immediately after that, though, Dixon went into shutdown mode. The next two at-bats were long ones, to be fair, but each ended the same way: with another K on the lefty's resume. Thus, UMD propelled itself into Friday with a 4-1 victory.

Dixon was as strong as ever in her second complete-game performance in as many days. Seven innings and 121 pitches translated to just one run, seven hits and three walks. Meanwhile, Dixon replicated her strikeout count front Thursday, adding nine more K's to leave her new career mark (and the program record) at 564. At the plate, Zavoral went a perfect 2-2 with an RBI. Both Gronholz and Weise went 2-3, with Weise adding an RBI to that line. Bender's big double helped her finish with two RBIs and a run.

Engelhardt was the name to know at the dish for the Warriors, going 2-4 with the team's lone RBI. WSU's best hitter across the season in Abbie Hlas also went 2-4. Abby Smith was saddled with the loss on the hill, going the full seven innings herself while allowing four runs, eight hits and two walks on 91 pitches.