CLERMONT, FLA. – After a much deserved day off, the St. Catherine University softball team was ready to get back to action Wednesday morning. The Wildcats were set to face Buena Vista University and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, two of the top teams in the midwest region, in Clermont, Florida. While St. Kate's was hoping to add two more wins to its record, the Wildcats had to settle for a split after opening the day with a 5-0 victory over the Beavers and falling to the Titans by a score of 5-4.

St. Kate's opened the day with its second shutout of the trip, as the team defeated Buena Vista 5-0. After Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) opened the game with a perfect 1-2-3 inning, the Wildcat batters went to work to give her the lead. Anna Hinderaker (Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount) got things started by drawing a leadoff walk before being bunted to second by second basemen Claire Woebke (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson). She patiently waited there until sophomore catcher Sammie Galvez (Gilbert, Ariz. / Williams Field) came up to the plate and laced an RBI single into the outfield grass, giving St. Kate's a 1-0 lead.

That lead would hold through the second and third innings, despite the Beavers attempts to tie. In the second, Buena Vista led off the inning with a single to get their first base runner of the game before hitting into two consecutive fielder's choice plays and a pop up to end the inning.

The Wildcats, in the meantime, continued to put runners on base and advance them into scoring position in both the second and third innings. Pinch runner Gabby Nordamn (Cloquet, Minn. / Denfield) advanced to second base in the second inning before being stranded there, while Amber Montero (Circle Pines, Minn. / Centennial) reached the same base before being stranded in the third.

St. Kate's finally broke through and added three more runs to its total in the bottom of the fifth. Hinderaker led off the inning with a single, and once again scored on an RBI single from Galvez. Jenna George (Elsworth, Wis. / Elsworth) then came up and blasted the ball over the fence for a two-run home run to extend the Wildcats lead to 4-0.

The Beavers put together their best inning of the game in the top of the sixth, seemingly spurred by St. Kate's sudden scoring surge. After Flugstad got the lead off hitter to ground out, Buena Vista got two hits off the junior ace, putting runners on first and second with one out. Flugstad then walked the next batter to load the bases, before getting out of the jam with a huge strike out and a pop up to Montero in center field.

Ashley Sis (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) added an insurance run for the Wildcats with her first home run of the season, and Kailee Berquam came in for the save to secure to 5-0 win for St. Kate's to open the day.

In game two, the Wildcats were looking to go 4-0 against team's from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with a win over UW-Oshkosh and actually lead the Titans for the majority of the game. St. Kate's took a 1-0 lead over the Titans in the third inning, after a Kylie Macziewski (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) double scored Montero from second. The Wildcats looked to add to the lead in the same inning, but Galvez and Macziewski were stranded at second and third.

The Titans eventually managed to crack Flugstad in the bottom of the fifth, when they scored the game-tying run on an Abby Menting RBI. The score stayed knotted at one until the top of the seventh, when St. Kate's scored three runs on two hits and a Titan error to take a 4-1 lead over UW-Oshkosh.

With Flugstad on the mound, the Wildcats were confident the 4-1 lead would hold and they would earn their second sweep of the trip. However, the Titans cut the lead to 4-2 on a sacrifice squeeze by Menting. They then added another run on that same play on a throwing error by Glavez and scored the game tying run on a sacrifice fly. Flugstad tried to hold UW-Oshkosh to a three run inning, but Natalie Dudek hit a screaming line drive past a diving Macziewski, allowing the Titans to win the game 5-4.

Hinderaker was the team's leading hitter against the Titans, going 3-4 at the plate with one run, while George was 2-3 with two RBI. Flugstad suffered just her second loss of the season in the complete game effort, giving up two runs on two hits with four strikeouts.

With the split, St. Kate's overall record improved to 10-4. The Wildcats, ranked No. 15 in the latest NFCA Di vision III Polls, will take on Hope College at 9 a.m. EST and Bowdoin College at 11:30 EST before returning to Minnesota late Thursday night.