Sidney Zavoral’s single scored Jessica Bren with the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the 13th inning to lift Minnesota Duluth to a 1-0 victory over Concordia-St. Paul in the opening round of the NSIC softball tournament Thursday in Rochester, Minnesota.

This was a pitching duel at its finest, with UMD junior Sam Pederson getting the win over the Golden Bears senior Kali Kaestner as both pitchers went the distance.

Pederson (12-5) scattered six hits, with seven strikeouts and three walks. Kaestner allowed nine hits, with 10 strikeouts and three walks.

That set the stage for Bren, a senior catcher who led off the bottom of the 13th with a single before eventually moving over to third.

Zavoral, a sophomore who was pinch-hit for after her first two at bats only to come back in later, didn’t disappoint, smacking the game-winning hit off the center fielder’s glove.

It was the longest game in coach Jen Walter’s six-year tenure with the Bulldogs.

“It was a great performance by both pitchers,” Walter said. “It was a very well played game by both teams. We were just one hit better.”

Bren and Jordyn Thomas of Hermantown had two hits apiece to lead fourth-seeded UMD (32-13) while Kris McIntyre had three hits to lead fifth-seeded Concordia-St. Paul (23-20).

The Bulldogs will now play Augustana (41-4) — the nation’s top-ranked team — at noon Friday in the next round of the double-elimination tournament.

Yellowjackets sting Saints

Jess Jacobson’s double scored Olivia Bancroft-Hart with the winning run in the top of the eighth inning as fifth-seeded Wisconsin-Superior stunned top-seeded St. Scholastica 5-4 on the opening day of the double-elimination UMAC softball tournament before 134 at Kenwood Field in Duluth.

St. Scholastica got the tying run aboard after Aislind Dail opened the bottom of the eighth with a single. Dail was then bunted over to second but was left stranded as UWS starter Tayler Kraemer got out of the jam with a flyout and a strikeout. Kraemer (12-7) scattered 10 hits, with six strikeouts and three walks.

Olivia Howe (16-4) took the loss for CSS despite allowing just three earned runs over eight innings, with two strikeouts and two walks.

Jacobson had four hits and three RBIs and Bancroft-Hart had three hits, two runs and an RBI to lead the Yellowjackets (19-13), who play Northwestern (16-21) at noon Friday in a winners’ bracket game at Kenwood Field.

Howe and Grace Hadlich each had two hits and an RBI to lead the Saints (32-7), who play Bethany Lutheran (20-16) in an elimination game at 2 p.m. Friday at Kenwood Field.

• UWS opened the UMAC tournament Thursday by defeating fourth-seeded Northland 7-2 as Kraemer tossed a five-hitter, allowing only one earned run, with eight strikeouts helping overcome six walks.

Kaela Kraemer, Tayler's sister, had four hits — including a triple and double — and four runs while Tayler Kraemer had three hits and an RBI to lead the Yellowjackets.

1/5: University of Wisconsin-Superior assistant coach Tim Bott reacts after his team took the lead over St. Scholastica during the UMAC Tournament on Thursday, May 13, 2021 at Kenwood Field in Duluth. UWS defeated St. Scholastica 5-4 in eight innings. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

2/5: Davriana Horvath (5) of the University of Wisconsin-Superior hits the ball against St. Scholastica during the UMAC Tournament on Thursday, May 13, 2021 at Kenwood Field in Duluth. UWS defeated St. Scholastica 5-4 in eight innings. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

3/5: Kaela Kraemer (8) of the University of Wisconsin-Superior tags Avery Thompson (5) St. Scholastica out at second base during the UMAC Tournament on Thursday, May 13, 2021 at Kenwood Field in Duluth. UWS defeated St. Scholastica 5-4 in eight innings. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

4/5: Heidi Stewart (13) of St. Scholastica hits the ball against the University of Wisconsin-Superior during the UMAC Tournament on Thursday, May 13, 2021 at Kenwood Field in Duluth. UWS defeated St. Scholastica 5-4 in eight innings. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

5/5: Jessica Bren (right) of Minnesota Duluth is tagged out by Kaylee Frenette of Upper Iowa April 24 at Malosky Stadium in Duluth. Sidney Zavoral's single scored Bren with the winning run in the 13th inning of the Bulldogs' 1-0 victory over Concordia-St. Paul in the opening round of the NSIC softball tournament Thursday in Rochester, Minnesota. (File / News Tribune)