CLERMONT, FLA. – It's been an impressive week for the St. Catherine University softball team. The Wildcats were undefeated in their first six games in Florida and were hoping to cap off their trip to the National Training Center (NTC) Spring Games with their 11^th and 12^th wins of the season. Standing in the way, though, was Fontbonne University and Elmhurst College.  

With their perfect record on the line, St. Kate's stepped up for the occasion. The Wildcats beat Fontbonne in their opening game on Thursday 2-1, then went on to beat Elmhurst 11-2 in their final game in Clermont, Florida.

 The Wildcats eleventh win of the season featured another low scoring game between St. Kate's and Fontbonne University. The Wildcats only scored two runs throughout the entire game, but those runs were enough to come out with a 2-1 victory.

After threatening in the first innings with a runner on third and two outs, St. Kate's was itching to score in the top of the second inning. First year outfielder Anna Hinderaker (Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount) led off the inning with a single to right field then scored from first on a two-out double by shortstop Robyn Rohr (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville North). Rohr advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Claire Woebke (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) and scored on a throwing error by Griffen pitcher Madison Leonard.

The Wildcats threatened again in the third and sixth innings but were unable to cross the plate. However, those two runs were all starting pitcher Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) needed to shut down Fontbonne's offense. The sophomore held the Griffens to five hits over seven innings of work and struck out a season high 13 batters.
Flugstad's only mistake came in the bottom of the seventh inning. She gave up a leadoff homerun to Fontbonne's Emelia Modglin, and St. Kate's lead was instantly cut in half. Flugstad, though, overpowered the remaining batters who came to the plate, to win her seventh game of 2016.

Rohr led St. Kate's in their 2-1 win over Fontbonne, going 2-2 at the plate with one run and one RBI. Hinderaker continued her impressive first year campaign at the plate, going 3-4 and scoring the Wildcats only other run.

St. Kate's offense took center stage in game two with one of their most explosive outings to date. Down 1-0 after the first inning, the Wildcats responded with a huge nine run second that featured two monster home runs.  Sophomore first baseman Ashley Sis (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) opened the floodgates with a game tying home run at the start of the inning. St. Kate's then loaded the bases with one of their most powerful offensive weapons at the plate: Robyn Rohr.

With the bases loaded and one out, the senior shortstop hit a bomb over the fence for her first home run of the 2016 season. Two batters later, pitcher Megan Lindenfelser (Nowthen, Minn. / Anoka) hit a home run of her own, giving the Wildcats a 9-1 lead they would never relinquish.

Lindenfelser was nearly flawless throughout the game. She gave up just two runs on three hits while striking out 13 Bluejay batters. Combined with Flugstad's stats from the morning, the two pitchers struck out a total of 26 batters on Thursday and are tied for third all-time in St. Kate's history for strikeouts during a single game.

Now, 12-0 this season, St. Kate's is off to their best start in program history. With their perfect record intact, the Wildcats have now won 18 straight games and have not lost a since April 18, 2015. They look to keep that streak alive when they return to St. Paul, Minnesota for their home opener against the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. St. Kate's defeated the Falcons 8-0 in February 27 to open the 2016 season.