After seeing its 10-game winning streak end with a loss on day one of its spring break trip, the St. Catherine University softball team hoped to rebound with an opportunity for two wins against NCAA Division III Schreiner University. Despite falling 3-1 in the opening game to the Mountaineers, the Wildcats earned a series split as they picked up a 4-0 shutout in game two Monday night in Kerrville, Texas.
The Wildcats struggled at the plate in the opener as they just two hits off of the Mountaineers' pitcher Jessica Vrana. After two scoreless innings from both teams, the Wildcats were able to plate their first run of the game when
Michaela Thielfoldt (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) came home after a
Michaela Bruns (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) RBI single.
Then, the Wildcats held the Mountaineers scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when they scored two runs before adding another in the fifth en route to victory.
Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) suffered just her second loss of the season in her six-inning complete game. She gave up just two earned runs and struck out five batters.
Claire Woebke (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) collected the Wildcats' other hit and the team's only walk in the opener.
Game two was a different story, though, as the Wildcats scored their seventh shutout of the season and second behind pitcher
Kailee Berquam (Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo) who earned her second complete game win. The first-year allowed just three hits and two walks and struck out five Moutaineer batters.
The Wildcats got the offense going in the first inning when Bruns picked up her first of four hits in the second game to bring
Robyn Rohr (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. In that same inning, Bruns scored on a sacrifice fly from
Ashley Sis (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo) to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.
In the third, Woebke, Bruns and Flugstad each recorded singles to load the bases. Sis then came to the plate and drove in Woebke to make the lead 3-0.
Kylie Macziewski (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) continued the hitting streak as she was next up and brought Bruns across home plate to increase the Wildcats' lead to the eventual final score of 4-0.
Bruns finished game two 4-for-4 and led the Wildcats on the day going 5-for-7 with a double and two RBI. Flugstad finished game two 3-for-4 from the plate in the seoncd game, while Rohr and
Jessi Tyminski (Champlin, Minn./Totino-Grace) also added hits.
With the split, the Wildcats improve to 11-3 on the season. They are scheduled to take on NAIA Huston-Tillotson University Tuesday afternoon at 12 p.m. in Austin, Texas.
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