ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University softball team is getting hot at just the right time. One day after sweeping Concordia College in impressive fashion, the Wildcats earned their second Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) sweep of the weekend, this time over Macalester College. St. Kate's scored 10 runs in the first game and five in the second to beat the visiting Scots 10-1 and 5-1 Sunday afternoon.

The Wildcats dominated from the very beginning, as they scored four runs in the first inning of game one to take a quick 4-0 lead. Claire Woebke (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) drew a leadoff walk and later scored on a Jenna George (Ellsworth, Wis. / Ellsworth) single to give St. Kate's a 1-0 lead. While that would have been enough for pitcher Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson), the Wildcats took advantage of two Macalester errors and scored three more runs to take a 4-0 lead.
Flugstad kept the Scot hitters at bay in the top of the second, sending the four, five and six hitters down in order, to keep the momentum on St. Kate's side. The Wildcats then went ahead and scored another run in the second, as Anna Hinderaker (Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount) scored on a grounder by Kylie Macziewski (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) to extend the lead to 5-0.

St. Kate's best offensive inning, though, came in the bottom of the third. After hitting a Scot in the top of the third inning, Flugstad was then hit by a pitch herself to open the inning for the Wildcats and Ashley Sis (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) drew a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs. Head coach Colleen Powers put Gabby Nordman (Cloquet, Minn. / Denfield) in at second to run for Flugstad, and both runners advanced to the next base on a sacrifice bunt by Brittney Frenette (Columbia Heights, Minn. / Irondale).

That was when St. Kate's huge inning started. Hinderaker and Woebke recorded back-to-back RBIs to extend the lead to 7-0, and Hinderaker scored from third on a wild pitch to make it 8-0. Montero, who went 2-3 in the game, then hit a two run bomb over the left field fence to score the Wildcats ninth and tenth runs of the game.
The Scots did try to make things interesting in the top of the fifth. Macalester put runners on first and second in the inning after Hannah Johnson (Milaca, Minn. / Milaca) came in to relieve Flugstad, and eventually scored one of those two on an RBI single from GG Gunther. However, Johnson got the next batter out to secure the 10-1 victory for her team.

Flugstad was flawless in her three innings of work, as she allowed just one Scot to reach base and struck out two to earn her 16^th win of the season. She also moved to second all-time in career strikeouts with 402 total.

After a quick first game, the Wildcats were looking to pick up right where they left off in game two. Unfortunately, St. Kate's found itself down 1-0 after the first inning, after Julia Carpenter scored on a RBI single from Kaela Jackson. However, the Wildcats answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the first, as Hinderaker scored on a RBI double from Macziewski to tie the game at one.

After the first inning, starter Maddie Greer (Oakdale, Minn. / North St. Paul) settled down on the mound for St. Kate's, as she sent the Scot batters down in order in the next six innings. She was eventually backed by her offense, as the Wildcats scored two runs in the third, again on Macalester errors, to take a decisive 3-1 lead. They later scored two more in the bottom of the fifth to win the game by a final score of 5-1.

Macziewski led all hitters in game two, as she went 3-4 from the plate with two runs and one RBI. Greer earned her fourth win of the season and her third complete game win, as she gave up just one run on two hits in seven innings of work.

Thanks to back-to-back sweeps, St. Kate's is now 22-10 overall and 12-4 in MIAC play. The Wildcats will return to action on Tuesday, opening their busiest week of the season with a home doubleheader against Gustavus Adolphus College. Game one of the MIAC doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. with game two to follow.