ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University softball team suffered a minor setback in Sunday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opener against the Saint Mary's University Cardinals. The Wildcats saw their perfect season come to an end but proved they know what it takes to bounce back after a tough loss. St. Kate's dropped the first game of the doubleheader against Saint Mary's 6-5 before coming back to win game two 3-0 behind a dominant pitching performance by Megan Lindenfelser (Nowthen, Minn. / Anoka).

Everything seemed to be rolling the Wildcats way in game one against the Cardinals. St. Kate's jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead thanks to a big offensive second inning. Ashley Sis (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) jump started the offense with a leadoff single and the next three batters followed suite. Lindenfelser, Kylie Macziewski (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) and Claire Woebke (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) all hit big time singles in the inning, with Woebke's being the biggest of them all. Her grounder up the middle scored Sis and Lindenfelser, giving the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.

Saint Mary's tied the game in the bottom of the third after Mariah Harper and Stanzy Snyder led off the inning with back-to-back-bunt singles. St. Kate's had an answer for the Cardinals offensive surge, as Robyn Rohr (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville North) hit a two-out double to score Donielle Kurvers (Monticello, Minn. / Monticello) from first base.
Saint Mary's was the next team to score. In the bottom of the fourth, Brittney Birkhauser hit a three run home run to give the Cardinals a 5-3 lead. However, St. Kate's mounted a comeback in the fifth to tie the game at five. Unfortunately, the Wildcats were unable to score again, as Birkhauser once again delivered in the bottom of the sixth.

Sophomore Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) got the start for St. Kate's in game one. She went five innings in the no decision, allowing five runs on six hits while striking out seven Cardinal batters.  

After the tough loss, St. Kate's bounced back to win game two behind a superb pitching performance by Lindenfelser. After giving up the game-winning RBI double to Birkhauser in the sixth inning of game one, Lindenfelser settled down quickly in game two, giving up just two hits and no runs in seven innings of work. The sophomore only walked one batter while striking out 10 to earn her seventh win of the 2016 season.

Lindenfelser was also backed by her offense in game two. Sis once again struck with a hot bat in the top of the second inning. This time, she leadoff with a solo home run, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead they never surrendered. They only added to it. St. Kate's tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the fifth thanks to Rohr and Macziewski. Rohr hit a single to score centerfielder Anna Hinderaker (Rosemount, Minn. / Jefferson) then made it home herself when Macziewski hit a two-out double over the centerfielder's head.

Rohr led all hitters for the Wildcats, going 2-4 with one RBI in game one and 2-3 with one run and one RBI in game two. Sis was also impressive in both games, going 2-4 in game one as well and 1-3 with an RBI in game two.

With the split against Saint Mary's, St. Kate's improved to 14-1 on the season and is 1-1 in MIAC play. If the weather holds, the Wildcats are scheduled to return to the field on Wednesday for a doubleheader against St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. St. Kate's will return home on Saturday, April 9, for a doubleheader against the rival University of St. Thomas.