Less than 24 hours after returning to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) competition and splitting its home opener with St. Olaf College, the St. Catherine University softball team returned to action on the road against perennial powerhouse Gustavus Adolphus College. Thanks several big hits in game one, the Wildcats stole a 6-4 victory from the Gusties before falling 2-1 in a close game two matchup Wednesday afternoon in St. Peter, Minnesota. 

The Wildcats earned their first win against the Gusties since the program's historic sweep in 2013 thanks to a huge performance at the plate from Robyn Rohr (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North). The short stop went 4-for-4 in the opener scoring three runs and belting her second home run of the season. 

After two scoreless innings to open the game, the Wildcats got on the board first in the top of third when Megan Lindenfelser (Nowthen, Minn./Anoka) singled through the right side to bring Rohr home to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. 

Then, in the top of the fourth, the Wildcats' built their lead to 3-0 when Jessi Tyminski (Champlin, Minn./Totino-Grace) slammed a home run for the third time this season and second time in as many days bringing Maggie Germscheid (Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi) across the plate. The homer was also the seventh of Tyminski's career which brings her to No. 6 all-time in career home runs at St. Kate's. 

The Gusties responded quickly, though, as Jena Willis and Shelby Nosan combined to drive in three runs and tie the game at 3-3. The Wildcats answered back when Rohr hit a home run to give the Wildcats a 4-3 lead before the Gusties evened the score again on a sacrifice fly that brought in Carly Klass for the Gusties. 

In the top of the seventh, Tyminski, Caity DeWitt (Stillwater, Minn./Mahtomedi) and Rohr collected three consecutive hits to put the Wildcats in a position to take a lead for good. Finally, Michaela Bruns (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) reached first on error that allowed Rohr and DeWitt to score. The Wildcats held off the Gusties in the bottom of the inning to take the win 6-4. 

Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) earned the win on the mound after coming in for relief in the fourth inning. She gave up just one earned run on two hits and struck out four Gustie batters en route to her eighth win of the season. In game two, the first-year was just as impressive despite the loss giving up no earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts. Her eight wins this season already rank No. 10 all-time for career wins at St. Kate's. 

In game two, the Wildcats held the Gusties scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when they scored on a fielding error. The Wildcats couldn't come up with an answer to the solid pitching from the Gusties' Sarah Rozell until the top of the sixth when Lindenfelser singled to bring Rohr home for her fourth run of the day. 

Unfortunately, the Gusties answered in the bottom of the inning with back-to-back hits before scoring on another Wildcat error to take game two 2-1. The Wildcats were able to come up with just five hits in the second game. 

In addition to big performances from Rohr and Tyminski, Lindenfelser finished the day with three hits and two RBI. Ashley Sis (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo) added a pair of hits inncluding a double in the opening game, while Claire Woebke (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) and Bruns each added a hit on the day. 

With the split, the Wildcats move to 17-5 on the season and 4-2 in the MIAC. They are scheduled to face Bethel University in a make up series Friday at 3:30 p.m. in Arden Hills, Minnesota. 

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