ROCHESTER, MINN. – The season could not have gotten off to a better start for the St. Catherine University softball team. On Saturday, the Wildcats got two shut out wins over the University of Wisconsin River Falls (8-0, 5 innings) and the University of Dubuque (5-0) at the RCTC dome in Rochester, Minnesota. St. Kate's returned to the dome on Sunday for games against Buena Vista University and Luther College, and the good times kept rolling. The Wildcats earned wins three and four of the year in dramatic fashion, beating the Beavers 11-3 in six innings and upsetting the No. 7 ranked Norse 3-1.
St. Kate's hoped to pick up on Sunday where they left off on Saturday in their 2:30 p.m. game against Buena Vista. However, the Wildcats found themselves in a 1-0 hole after the Beavers leadoff runner scored in the top of the first inning. St. Kate's answered right back in the bottom of the first.
Robyn Rohr (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville North) led off the first with a bunt single then scored from first on a single by
Ashley Sis (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) to tie the ballgame at 1-1. One batter later, the Wildcats had the lead.
Sammie Galvez (Gilbert, Ariz. / Williams Field) hit an RBI double to give St. Kate's the 2-1 lead.
Buena Vista, though, wasn't done scoring after the first. They scored again in the second to tie the game at two, but the Wildcats rebounded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. First year
Anna Hinderaker (Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount) hit a monster double to bring in
Claire Woebke (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) from second, then scored the fourth run of the ball game off Rohr's ground rule double.
The Wildcats went on to score seven more runs in the ball game, and only surrendered one to the Beavers, to win the game 11-3 in six innings. Sophomore
Megan Lindenfelser (Nowthen, Minn. / Anoka) earned her second win of the season after coming in to relieve
Kailee Berquam (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) in the third inning.
St. Kate's faced one of their biggest challenges of the year in their second game of the day against Luther. The Norse were ranked No. 7 in the NCAA preseason softball poll and scored a combined 16 runs in their first two games of the season. However,
Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) had a different idea for the Norse offense. The sophomore ace held Luther to just one run and five hits over seven innings of work to earn her second win of the 2016 season.
On the offensive side, the Wildcats looked poised and ready to strike in the top of the first inning with runners on first and second and only one out. However, the Norse were able to get out of the inning and score the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning. Down 1-0, the Wildcats needed a big third inning to swing the momentum back in their direction. Flugstad helped get her team on the board, hitting a one-out double in the top of the third to score Lindenfelser from second.
Tied 1-1 after three innings, St. Kate's chipped away at Luther's starting pitcher in the fourth inning and simply refused to give any at bats away. Hinderaker opened the fourth in a single then stole second to be in scoring position with Rohr at the plate. Rohr hit a ground rule double to score Hinderaker, giving St. Kate's a 2-1. Two batters later, the Wildcats took a 3-1 lead when Rohr beat out the third baseman's throw to first before the final out of the inning was recorded.
Hinderaker led the Wildcats in hitting. In the first game, the first year went 4-4 with three RBIs, three singles, a double, and a run. Hinderaker's bat was just as hot in the second game as well, as she went 1-2 with a run.
With the two wins on Sunday, St. Kate's is off to its best start since the 2013 season. However, the Wildcats will wait a month before taking the field again for game day action. The team is off from now until March 20, when they play Loras College in Clermont, Fla. In the NTC Spring Games Tournament.
