Mariana Torres doubled to score Emily Phillips with the go-ahead run to lead Mcneese State to a 5-4, 13-inning win over Minnesota Friday in the opening game of the Seattle Regional of the NCAA softball tournament.

The Cowgirls (45-14) advanced to face the winner of the Washington-Northern Colorado game at 4 p.m. today. A Cowgirls win would send them to Sunday’s championship round with two chances to win one game.

A Cowgirls loss would force them to play an elimination game at 9 p.m. today, then win twice Sunday in the championship round.

Rylie Bouvier singled to score Torres with an insurance run in the 13th. Natalie DenHertog homered to lead off the bottom of the 13th for Minnesota. Maddy Ehlke doubled with two outs, but McNeese reliever Whitney Tate forced a fly ball to end the game.

Minnesota (37-18) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when McNeese infielders Reese Reyna and Bouvier collided while both were attempting to catch a pop-up, allowing Sydney Strelow to score from second base.

Reyna made immediate amends, hitting a sacrifice fly in the third inning to score Alayis Seneca with the tying run. Seneca tripled to right to lead off the inning.

Minnesota took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning on a solo homer to left field by Kayla Chavez.

Bouvier hit a two-run homer, her second of the season, to put the Cowgirls ahead 3-2 in the top of the fourth. Mariana Torres led off with a single and scored on Bouvier’s blast.

The Golden Gophers knotted the score in the bottom of the sixth, with Jess Oakland reaching on a single and scoring on a hit by Taylor Krapf. The Gophers had a chance to the lead on a two-out double by Ehlke, but a Cowgirls relay from Brooke Otto to Reyna to catcher Phillips was in time to get pinch runner Billi Connell out at the plate to end the inning.

Minnesota returned the favor in the top of the seventh, getting the final out of the inning at the plate when left fielder Amani Bradley corralled a Chloe Gomez single and fired home in time to get Seneca at the plate for the third out. McNeese challenged the play for catcher’s interference but the call was upheld.

Minnesota left runners on base in each of the first four extra innings. McNeese got runners on in the eighth, ninth and 11th without scoring a run.

McNeese starter Ashley Vallejo allowed seven hits and walk before being relieved by Tate with two outs in the eighth.