ST. PAUL, MINN. – All season long, the St. Catherine University softball team did the unexpected. The Wildcats opened the season with a thirteen game win streak, found themselves ranked in the top-25 of the National Fastpich Coaches Association (NFCA), and earned their spot in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs.

On Sunday, St. Kate's once again did the unexpected. The Wildcats upset top seeded St. Thomas 5-4 in Game 6 of the conference tournament to force Game 7 to determine the 2016 MIAC Champion. Unfortunately, the Tommies came back to win the second game of the day 6-0, but not before St. Kate's already cemented its best record in program history.

The Wildcats knew they needed to beat St. Thomas twice in order to clinch their first MIAC Postseason Championship in program history. As the lower seeded team, St. Kate's had a chance to take the lead in the top of the first when Robyn Rohr (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville North) reached first with a leadoff walk. Left fielder Brittney Frenette (Columbia Heights, Minn. / Columbia Heights) bunted Rohr to second, giving the Wildcats two outs to bring Rohr home. They wouldn't even need those two outs. Megan Lindenfelser (Nowthen, Minn. / Anoka) went deep for her ninth home run of the season, giving St. Kate's a 2-0 lead after the first inning.

Lindenfelser made her first start of the playoffs later that inning. After getting the first two Tommie batters to strike out and pop out, Lindenfelser walked three hitter Micaela Trainor and give up a hit to Dana Connelly to put runners on second and third with two outs. Lindenfelser pitched out of the jam, getting Brenna Walek to pop out to third baseman Kylie Macziewski (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) to end St. Thomas' first inning rally.

Neither the Wildcats nor the Tommies scored until the fourth inning, when St. Kate's extended its lead to 5-0.  Designated player Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) opened the inning with a bloop single to right field, prompting head coach Colleen Powers to put Megan Miller (Green Isle, Minn. / Norwood Young America) in for Flugstad to pinch run. Miller advanced to second on a wild pitch by St. Thomas starter Katie Jo Delisle and made it to third on a bunt single by catcher Sammie Galvez (Gilbert, Ariz. / Williams Field). Miller then scored on a throwing error by Delisle to make the score 3-0 in the Wildcats favor.

St. Kate's tacked on two more runs in the inning, thanks to an RBI single by Rohr and a quick grounder by Frenette. However, the Tommies cut into the Wildcats lead in the bottom of the fourth, when Walek hit a solo home run off Lindenfelser.

St. Kate's was unable to score in the fifth and sixth innings, and St. Thomas continued to chip away at the Wildcats lead. The Tommies scored two quick runs in the bottom of the sixth, forcing St. Kate's to bring Flugstad to the mound in relief. With the bases cleared, Flugstad sent St. Thomas four, five and six batters down in order to preserve St. Kate's 5-3 lead.

Flugstad returned to the mound in the seventh to try and seal the win for the Wildcats and earn her second save of the regular season. At the start of the inning, things looked to be going Flugstad's way as she got Kierstin Anderson-Glass to ground out to the shortstop. However, the Tommies put together two rally to cut St. Kate's lead to 5-4. With the bases loaded and two out, Flugstad's curve ball clipped the outside corner to strike out Connelly and cement the Wildcats 5-4 victory.

There was still plenty of work to be done, though, before St. Kate's could celebrate their victory. Roughly twenty minutes after upsetting St. Thomas in Game 6, the Wildcats were back out on the field in Game 7. The winner of the game would be the MIAC Champion and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament next weekend.

At the start of the second game, St. Kate's was once again poised to take an early lead. The Wildcats had runners on first and second with one out and their power hitters due at the plate. Unfortunately, Tommie starter Anderson-Glass stunted the St. Kate's rally, getting Macziewski to strike out and Flugstad to pop out to the pitcher.

Flugstad made her fourth start in two days in game two and held the St. Thomas bats at bay for the first and second innings. In the third, though, the Tommies took a lead they would never relinquish. They scored four runs in the third, one in the fourth, and one in the fifth to take a 6-0 lead over the Wildcats after six innings of play.

St. Kate's tried to put a rally together in the top of the seventh inning with singles from Frenette and Macziewski. However, the Wildcats were unable to advance either runner, falling to St. Thomas 6-0.

Thanks to St. Kate's deep run in the MIAC Playoffs, the team finished the season with a 31-8 record and an 18-9 mark in conference play. The Wildcats now will rely on the selection committee as they need an at large bid to play in the Division III Softball NCAA Tournament next weekend. St. Kate's was ranked No. 25 in the country by the NFCA and No. 5 in the Midwest Region last week before the start of the conference tournament. The selection show for the pool of 62 will be at 12 p.m. central time on the NCAA website.