ST. PAUL, MINN. – Pitching, hitting, and defense all came together in St. Catherine University softball's latest doubleheader against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) foe Carleton College. The Wildcats blanked the Knights in Thursday afternoon's doubleheader, winning both games by scores of 8-0 and 6-0 respectively.

Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) set the tone of the game from the very first pitch, sending Carleton's top batters down in order at the start of the ball game. One of those batters was MIAC offensive leader Anna Luako, who, coming into the game against the Wildcats, was batting .518 on the season. Flugstad silenced not only Luako, but the entire Carleton offense as well. In five innings of work, Flugstad struck out seven, walked two and gave up just four hits in her sixth complete game shutout of the season.     

She was backed by an explosive offense, led by the hot bat of Kylie Macziewski (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson). The third baseman was 2-2 in game one with two runs and 3 runs batted in (RBI). She scored one of her two runs in the first when St. Kate's took a quick 3-0 lead. Robyn Rohr (Lakeville, Minn. / Jefferson) and Macziewski drew walks while Ashley Sis (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) was hit by pitch to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the first inning. Rohr and Macziewski scored on a Megan Lindenfelser (Nowthen, Minn. / Anoka) single and a fielder's choice off the bat of first year Anna Hinderaker (Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount).

Carleton did threaten in the top of the second, with runners on first and second and no outs. Flugstad got the six batter, Kaitlin Schaible, to groundout to first, then got the next two batters swing to send the Knights back to the dugout without a run.

The Wildcats added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the second. Macziewski hit a three-run home run, her second of the year and the first on St. Kate's home field this season, to extend St. Kate's lead to 5-0 after two. The Wildcats would keep adding from there. They tacked on two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth to take an 8-0 lead, ending the game in the fifth inning due to the eight-run rule.

In game two, Carleton threatened to score first as leadoff batter Katie Eppard opened the game with a base hit. However, this time it was Lindenfelser who managed to pitcher her way out of the jam, sending the next three batters down in order to keep the Knights scoreless for six straight innings.

Carleton threatened again, though in the top of the third, and nearly scored the first run of the game on a throwing error by St. Kate's. Backed by her defense, Lindenfelser got out of trouble, preserving the 0-0 score.

Carleton's game two starting pitcher, Sam Kile, managed to keep the Wildcat offense at bay through the first two innings, allowing just two base hits in those first few innings. By the third, though, St. Kate's offense had Kile's number. Rohr jump started the inning with a base hit bunt and scored from first on Flugstad's base hit down the right field line.

From there, the Wildcats only added. After Flugstad's base hit, St. Kate's scored three unanswered runs behind base hits from Sis and Hinderaker and a wild pitch to take a 4-0 lead after the third inning. Lindenfelser added to the lead in the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run. Two batters later, Hinderaker hit a two out triple, and scored from third when Rohr was walked with the bases loaded.

Hinderaker led St. Kate's offensively in game two, going 3-3 with two singles and a triple. Flugstad went 2-3 as the designated player whle Lindenfelser went 1-3 with one run and an RBI. 

Kailee Berquam (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) came in to relieve Lindenfelser in the top of the fourth, solidifying the win for the Wildcats and cementing the sweep. She and Lindenfelser combined for four hits, five strikeouts and three walks over seven innings of work to cement St. Kate's game two 6-0 shutout victory.

With their second sweep in three series, the Wildcats are now 20-3 this season with a 7-3 mark in the MIAC. Their foe will be none other than Augsburg College, who sits in sixth place in the conference standings after being swept by the College of Saint Benedict Thursday afternoon. First pitch of the weekend series will be at 1 p.m. at St. Kate's field with game two to follow.