After sweeping Loras College by one run in each game Friday afternoon, the St. Catherine University softball team hoped to use that momentum heading into its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) series against Augsburg College. Thanks to another solid day of pitching and a total of 23 hits on the day, the Wildcats extended their winning streak to five-straight games with 5-0 and 9-0 shutouts of the Auggies Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
The Wildcat pitching duo of
Megan Lindenfelser (Nowthen, Minn./Anoka) and
Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) was nearly impossible to break for the Auggies as each gave up just three hits. Lindenfelser earned her second-consecutive shutout and third win of the season on the mound. She struck out six Auggie batters in six innings pitched, while Flugstad recorded her second complete game of the season and first shutout striking out an impressive 12 batters. They each picked up a pair of hits on the day with both of Lindenfelser's good for doubles.
Game one opened with three scoreless innnings before the Wildcats finally got the offense going when they scored three runs in the top of the fourth off a three-RBI home run from
Ashley Sis (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo). The first-year recorded her second home run in as many games and led the Wildcats in the opener hitting 2-for-3.
The Wildcats extended their lead to 5-0 in the top of the seventh when
Kylie Macziewski (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) cranked her third home run of the season – a two-run shot to center field that Woebke home for her lone run of the day.
Michaela Bruns (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) was also 2-for-3 in the first game with one run scored.
In game two, the Wildcats got the bats going early when they scored three times in the opening inning. Macziewski doubled to bring
Robyn Rohr (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) across the plate before Bruns collected her first collegiate home run bringing Macziewski home for two RBI.
The Wildcats were silent, though, until the sixth inning when they added another run off a RBI single from
Claire Woebke (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) that brought pinch runner
Michaela Thielfoldt (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) home for the fourth Wildcat run of the game.
In the seventh, Flugstad kicked off the inning with a single and the first of five runs when she scored on a RBI double from Lindenfelser.
Jessi Tyminski (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park) then picked up her first hit of the season to bring Bruns across the plate.
Donielle Kurvers (Monticello, Minn./Monticello) then doubled to left to bring Lindenfelser home before Macziewski helped score Rohr and Kurvers.
Macziewski finished game two 3-for-5 at the plate with four runs total in the series. She also had a team-best five RBI between both wins. Woebke finished the day 4-for-6, while Bruns and Kurvers were both 3-for-6.
The Wildcats improve to 5-1 on the season and open MIAC play 2-0. They will take a weekend off of competition before playing three games on Friday, March 20 at the Plymouth Dome in Plymouth, Minnesota.
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