There is no question that this spring has been unlike any other. And because of the unusual amount of winter weather that extended the entire month of April, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) chose to adjust its annual softball tournament to include all 12 institutions.
 
With the playoff seeds and pools announced Wednesday afternoon, the St. Catherine University softball team knows it will compete as the No. 8-seed in a pool with the No. 1-seed and MIAC Champion University of St. Thomas, as well as the No. 10-seed Macalester College.
 
The Wildcats will open play Friday at Caswell Park in Mankato, Minn., at 5 p.m. in a rematch with Macalester. The two teams completed their regular season series Tuesday after beginning game one on April 6.
 
The Scots captured a game one victory 11-7, but the Wildcats turned around to take game two in a 6-0 shutout thanks to the stellar pitching of Lindsey Klein (Shoreview, Minn.). Klein – who was named the MIAC Softball Pitcher-of-the-Week Monday – threw her third-straight shutout, struck out six Scots in the process and allowed Macalester just four hits.
 
Klein enters the tournament in the top-five among all MIAC pitchers for earned run average (ERA) with a 2.42 ERA overall and just a 1.87 ERA in conference games. In MIAC play, the first-year has earned five wins, thrown seven complete games, struck out 49 batters and allowed just 47 hits in 60 innings pitched.
 
Against the Scots, the Wildcats will need to slow down Saraswati Wilson who is averaging .394 in MIAC games and ranks in the league's top-20 hitters. In Tuesday's series, Wilson went 3-for-6 with two runs scored and three RBI for the Scots.
 
In game two – which is slated to begin at 7 p.m. Friday – the Wildcats will face the Tommies after falling 6-0, 13-1 to the repeat conference champs less than two weeks ago at the Rosemount Dome in the midst of a late-April snow storm.
 
Jenna Brady (Greenfield, Minn.) led the Wildcats in their first meeting with the Tommies as she went 2-for-4 at the plate and recorded an RBI on the lone Wildcat run in the two contests. This season, Brady has been one of the top Wildcat hitters with 24 hits, nine RBI and 21 runs scored.
 
To take down the No. 9-ranked Tommies, the Wildcats must find a way to slow down their offensive weapons at the plate. The reigning MIAC Player-of-the-Year Kimmy Hassel is currently sixth among all MIAC players with an impressive .462 batting average in conference games, while Emily Gregory is third at .492 with a monster 33 RBI to lead the league. Five Tommie starters are batting over .400 in conference games and rank in the top-15 in MIAC hitting.
 
At the mound, Kendra Bowe has eight conference wins for St. Thomas and a remarkable 0.99 ERA, while Brianna Bannon has five wins and leads the league with a 0.27 ERA in MIAC matchups.
 
Coming out of pool play with two wins will be a tall order for the Wildcats, but the squad has won three of its last four – including a sweep of Gustavus Adolphus College for the first time in program history – and boasts two hitters in the top-25 in MIAC games.

Two-time All-MIAC pick Alyssa Luedtke (Spring Lake Park, Minn.) collected hits in 17-of-18 MIAC games this season and rode a 14-game hitting streak that spanned most of the month of April. Currently, she is No. 20 in MIAC hitting with a .383 average in conference contests. Overall this season, the junior leads the team in at bats (109), runs (22), hits (40) and stolen bases (7).
 
Designated player Jessica Tyminski (Champlin, Minn.) has had a breakout junior season in which she has collected three home runs – including a grand slam in the Wildcats' 7-4 victory over the College of Saint Benedict – and her .365 conference batting average is 24th among all MIAC players. This season, Tyminski is third on the team with 26 hits and second in doubles (5).
 
Alyssa McKee (Spring Lake Park, Minn.) has also had a breakout junior year at the plate as she leads the Wildcats in RBI (28), doubles (7) and slugging percentage (.570). Her 18 RBI in conference games also leads all Wildcats and is tied for seventh-most among all MIAC hitters.
 
The Wildcats will first take on Macalester at 5 p.m., followed immediately by their match up with St. Thomas at 7 p.m., Friday. The team that emerges with the most victories from each pool will enter double-elimination play Saturday. Should ties occur in a pool, a winner will be decided using the MIAC Softball tiebreaker criteria predetermined by the coaches' group.
 
More information regarding tournament seeding, pool play, tiebreaker criteria and playoff information can be found on the MIAC tournament site, while a preview of the entire conference tournament is also online. 
 
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