Arden Hills, Minn. – The Washington University in St. Louis softball team defeated No. 12 Bethel University 2-1 on Saturday afternoon to advance to Sunday's regional final at 12 p.m.
The Bears are now 32-10 overall and need to win just one game on Sunday to advance to next weekend's Super Regional. It is the first time since 2010 that WashU has won two games at a regional.
After scoreless first and second innings in which both teams notched one hit per, the Bears took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third.
Katie Gould led off with a double down the left field line. Tami Wong then doubled to left and advanced to third on a throwing error, bringing in Gould for the first run of the game.
Natalia Pilpil then reached on a fielding error by left field and advanced to second, scoring Wong for the 2-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth, the Royals had a runner in scoring position, but the Bears forced the final out before any damage could be done. In the top of the fifth, however, Bethel cut WashU's lead in half.
With two outs, Lexi DeBace singled up the middle and Mikaela Girard drew a walk. Kayla Hokanson singled to right field, scoring DeBace to make it a 2-1 game.
The Bears couldn't add any more runs, but they held off any further movement from the Royals, and put the side down in order in the top of the seventh to clinch the win.
Katie Gould went 2-for-2 with one run scored while Wong finished 1-for-3 with one RBI and one run. Ashley Kennedy, Kirsten Drabek and Nicole Hay all went 1-for-3 on the day.
Madison Denton pitched a complete game in the circle to pick up her 12th win of the year, allowing eight hits, one earned run and striking out two. She is now 12-2 on the season with a team-low 1.22 ERA.
The Bears will face Bethel again, which came back to beat Buena Vista in the elimination game.