Heading into the 2015 season, second-year Head Coach Colleen Powers couldn't wait to see what her talented, young St. Catherine University softball team was capable of achieving this year and was ready to get the team battled tested. The Wildcats had their first opportunity Sunday in a set of dome games against University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

The Wildcats dropped a narrow 1-0 decision in eight innings to UW-Stevens Point before getting the bats going in a 7-1 rout of UW-River Falls Sunday at the Rochester Community Technical College (RCTC) Dome in Rochester, Minnesota.

In the opener, the Wildcats held the Pointers scoreless through seven innings and outhit their opponent 7-2 throughout the game, but couldn't stop the Pointers in the bottom of the eighth as Paige Allen hit a sacrifice fly to center field to send Maddie Sawdey home for the lone run of the game.

Robyn Rohr (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) led the Wildcats hitting 3-for-4, while Claire Woebke (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) was 2-for-3. Fellow first-year Michaela Bruns (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) also had a hit and a walk, while Ashley Sis (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo) added the final Wildcat hit.

Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) made her first collegiate appearance pitching a complete game giving up two hits and striking out five batters. The lone Falcon run was unearned due to the international tiebreaker rule played in extra innings.

Game two was a different story, though, as the Wildcats erupted for seven runs on seven hits offensively and received a strong performance on the mound from Megan Lindenfelser (Nowthen, Minn./Anoka). The first-year made her first collegiate start and allowed just one run on five hits striking out 12 Falcon batters to help the Wildcats to their first win of the season. Her 12 strikeouts are the most in a single game for a Wildcat pitcher since 2009 when Tiana Allen threw 11 against Carleton College. Only two pitcher in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) pitched 12 strikeouts in a single game last season. 

Kylie Macziewski (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) started the Wildcats off strong in the first inning when she hit her first collegiate home run to bring Rohr across the plate to help the Wildcats take a 2-0 lead early. Then, Flugstad also hit her first collegiate home run in the bottom of the third to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.

The Falcons looked as if they might start chipping away at the Wildcat lead when Michelle LaCasse scored one run on an RBI on a Katie Thompson single in the top of the fifth. However, the Wildcats responded in their next at bat when Macziewski again brought Rohr home on another home run bringing the Wildcat lead up to 5-1. 

Later in the inning, Lindenfelser contributed offensively when she recorded her first collegiate hit,– a two RBI single to bring Bruns and Michaela Thielfoldt (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) across the plate for the first time in their collegiate careers. The Wildcats then held on for their first win of the season and handed the Falcons their first loss of the season.

Macziewski finished the game 2-for-3 with four RBI and two runs scored thanks to her two homers, while Flugstad was also 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored. Bruns, Lindenfelser and Donielle Kurvers (Monticello, Minn./Monticello) each picked up a hit in game two.

The Wildcats will return to dome action next Friday for a doubleheader against Loras College at 1 p.m. in the Augsburg College dome in Minneapolis. The Wildcats will then take on the Auggies to open MIAC play Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 12:30 p.m.

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