The No. 25 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and withstood a late rally Friday afternoon on its way to a 1-0 victory over 24th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan in the first game of the best-of-three NCAA Super Regional.

With the game tied at 0-0 entering the seventh, freshman right fielder Kaiden Jackson laced a double to left center and stole third with nobody out.

Senior left fielder Mallory Klotz stepped up as the next hitter and drove a pitch back up the middle to give the Warhawks (29-11-1) a one-run lead and collect her 231st career hit to break the program’s all-time record.

With six shutout innings under her belt, sophomore pitcher Bella Matthias came back out for the seventh.

The Titans (34-11-1) started the frame with back-to-back hits, but Matthias recovered to strike out the side, getting the final hitter on a 3-2 count to secure the win and put UW-Whitewater one win away from next week’s NCAA Championship in Oklahoma City.

For complete story and stats at UWWSports.com,