Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
With a wealth of talent returning for the St. Catherine University softball team in 2013, Head Coach Madge Makowske had high expectations for a successful season early on.
 
In its opening series against Bethany Lutheran College, the Wildcats proved they had hitting power and could deliver clutch performances as they swept the Vikings with an eight-inning 8-7 win in the first game and a close 6-5 decision in the second Friday afternoon at the Vadnais Dome in Vadnais Heights, Minn.
 
Junior Alyssa McKee (Spring Lake Park, Minn.) proved to have the hot hand as she went 6-for-6 on the day with three runs, three doubles, two RBI and a home run to lead the Wildcats to victory.
 
In the first game, the Vikings put a run on the board first to take an early 1-0 lead in the second, but the Wildcats answered back as Raven Baker (Minneapolis, Minn.) ignited a three-run play on a single that gave her team a 3-1 lead heading into the third.
 
Bethany Lutheran responded with two runs in the third to pull even at three a side, before the Wildcats took a 4-3 lead on an RBI by  Regan Kriechbaum (Faribault, Minn.).
 
Senior Ashley Matthys (Elk River, Minn.) then cranked her first home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the fourth and give the Wildcats a 5-3 lead.
 
But the Vikings weren't going to go easily as Amanna Berthusen and Nicole Starkson hit back-to-back home runs to give their team a 6-5 lead in the fifth inning.
 
After a scoreless sixth inning, McKee delivered a much-needed home run to tie the game at 7-7 and force extra innings to keep the Wildcats' hope for a victory alive.
 
After Kelsey Pekarna smacked another home run for the Vikings, the Wildcats needed to find a way to respond.
 
And respond they did. With Matthys in scoring position, Alyssa Luedtke (Spring Lake Park, Minn.) hit a triple to send the tying run home and put herself in scoring position.
 
The fate of the Wildcats then lay in the hands of Kaitlyn Luedtke (Spring Lake Park, Minn.) who had a short hit to send her sister home for the game-winning run.
 
Baker finished the game 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run, while Matthys was 2-for-3 with three runs and an RBI.
 
In the second game, the Wildcats went wild in the first inning as they scored five runs to take an early lead and never looked back, despite a late surge from the Vikings.
 
McKee was 3-for-3 in the second game with two doubles, while Cassie Rooney (Plymouth, Minn.) finished 1-for-2 with a double and an RBI.
 
Courtney Stender (Belle Plaine, Minn.) picked up the win for the Wildcats in the first game with just one run allowed in three innings pitched, while Lindsey Klein (Shoreview, Minn.) came in to pick up the win for the Wildcats in the second game.

The Wildcats will take nearly a month off before returning to action against Crown College on March 20 for a single game at the Holy Angels Dome in Richfield, Minn. That matchup is slated for 6:15 a.m.
 
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