ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University softball team is no stranger to making history. After a record setting 2016, it seemed there were no more records for the Wildcats to break in 2017. That myth was busted Wednesday afternoon, as St. Kate's defeated the University of St. Thomas on the road for the first time in program history. While the Wildcats settled for a split in the double header, their 10-4 win in game one snapped the Tommies 11-game win streak and gave St. Kate's its first ever regular season win on St. Thomas turf.

Despite the final score, the first game did not get off to an ideal start for the Wildcats. The Tommies jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, the earliest St. Kate's ace Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) has given up all season. The Wildcats tried to answer in the top of the third as they put runners at first and second with one out. Unfortunately, St. Thomas got out of the jam and added two more runs to its lead in the bottom of the same inning to take a seemingly definitive 4-0 lead over St. Kate's.

However, just when all hope seemed lost, the Wildcats started to find their rhythm offensively. St. Kate's eventually scored its first run in the top of the fourth, cutting the Tommie lead to 4-1 with three innings still to play. Sam Skwarek (St. Anthony, Minn. / St. Anothy) scored on a line drive base hit from slapper Brittney Frenette (Columbia Heights, Minn. / Irondale) in the inning, which seemed to be exactly what the Wildcats needed to get their offense going.

After Flugstad held St. Thomas at bay in the bottom of the inning, St. Kate's offense went to work erasing the deficit entirely, as the Wildcats exploded for five runs in the top of the fifth. Claire Woebke (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) hit a leadoff single to center field then was bunted to second by short stop Kylie Macziewski (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson). After that, St. Kate's took advantage of Tommie errors, as Woebke advanced to third on an error by the pitcher and Jenna George (Ellsworth, Wis. / Ellsworth) loaded the bases with a grounder to the third baseman.

Woebke, Amber Montero (Circle Pines, Minn. / Centennial) and George all scored in the inning, as did Flugstad, to give the Wildcats 5-4 lead over the No. 17 ranked Tommies. St. Kate's also tacked on four more runs in the sixth and one in the seventh to beat St. Thomas by a final score of 10-4.

Frenette had her best game of the season offensively, as she went 4-4 in the first game with four singles and three RBIs. Flugstad went 3-4 at the plate and was equally impressive on the mound, as she gave up just three earned runs and struck out six in seven innings of work to earn her 12^th win of the season.

Unfortunately, St. Kate's hit a bit of a road bump at the start of the second game. The Tommies scored nine runs on three Wildcat errors to take a 9-0 win in the bottom of the first. However, after that initial inning, Kailee Berquam (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) held St. Thomas to just one run on four hits in the final six innings of the game after coming in to relieve Maddie Greer (Oakdale, Minn. / North St. Paul), giving her team a chance to come back.

And comeback they almost did. After being shut out through the first three innings by Tommie starter Jessica Eppenberger, St. Kate's once again found its stride in the fourth inning. Montero and George hit back-to-back doubles to cut the lead to 9-1 before Sammie Galvez (Gilbert, Ariz. / Williams Field) and Sis both scored to make it 9-4.

The Wildcats scored again in the bottom of the sixth, but St. Thomas answered with a run of its own to extend the lead to 10-5. St. Kate's wasn't done scoring, though, as George led off the seventh inning with a monster home run to deep center field to get the Wildcats within four of the Tommies. Then, Flugstad, Galvez and Sis all hit singles to load the bases with no outs. Flugstad eventually scored on a grounder by Frenette, but the rally wasn't enough, as St. Kate's fell in game two 10-7.

Despite the game two loss, the Wildcats could walk away impressed. The 10-4 win in game one was the first time in program history St. Kate's beat St. Thomas on its own field during the regular season. The Wildcats also snapped the Tommies 11-game win streak and handed them their first MIAC loss of the 2017 season. More impressively, St. Kate's scored 17 runs in two games against St. Thomas, marking the first time the Tommies have surrendered more than 10 runs in a double header since the 2015 season.

After the split, St. Kate's is now 16-8 overall and holds a 4-2 mark in MIAC play. The Wildcats will return to the field at 1 p.m. on Saturday, when they host Bethel University.