OKALHOMA CITY, OK – The St. Catherine University softball team has had nothing short of a spectacular 2017. On Friday, the Wildcats saw their historic season come to an end, as their sixth inning rally came up short in their 6-5 loss to Williams College at the NCAA Division III Women's College World Series (WCWS) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

St. Kate's faced a do or die situation Friday afternoon, as it had to beat Williams or be eliminated from the NCAA Tournament all together. Unfortunately, the Wildcats found themselves down 4-0 after the third inning, as Williams scored four runs on three hits off junior pitcher Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn.  / Jefferson). The Ephs later added two more runs in the fifth, extending their lead over St. Kate's to 6-0 with just two innings left to play.

The Wildcats, though, weren't about to go away quietly. Sammie Galvez (Gilbert, Ariz. / Williams Field) tried to get a rally started in the bottom of the fifth by hitting a one-out double over the head of Williams' right fielder. Although Galvez was stranded at second, St. Kate's started to feel like the comeback was possible and once again had life breathed back into the dugout.

After the fifth inning, first year Maddie Greer (Oakdale, Minn. / North St. Paul) relieved Flugstad on the mound and sent the Ephs batters down in order in the sixth, giving her team amble opportunity to score more runs. Anna Hinderaker (Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount) and Claire Woebke (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) drew back-to-back walks to open the inning, putting runners on first and second with no outs for the red hot Amber Montero (Circle Pines, Minn. / Centennial). During Montero's at bat, Hinderaker and Woebke advanced to second and third, putting runners in scoring position for the dangerous Jenna George (Ellsworth, Wis. / Ellsworth).

Williams took the bat out of George's hand, as the Eaves opted to intentionally walk the All-American third baseman. Still, George made Williams relief pitcher Brook Bovier nervous enough to throw a pitch in the dirt, allowing Hinderaker to score from third to cut the lead to 6-1.

With George on first and Woebke on third, head coach Colleen Powers opted to put the speedy Gabby Nordman (Cloquet, Minn. / Denfield) at first as a pinch runner. However, neither Nordman nor Woebke stayed at their respective base very long, as shortstop Kylie Macziewski (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) made the Ephs regret their decision to intentionally walk George with an RBI base hit to center field.

With the lead cut to 6-2, Galvez carded her second hit of the day, this time a single to left center to score Nordman from third. Still, the Wildcats had two outs on the board and needed three more runs to tie Williams at 6-6.  Ashley Sis (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) got St. Kate's within one of the Ephs 6-3 lead, as her RBI double scored both Macziewski and Galvez, cutting Williams lead to 6-5.

Greer was superb on the mound in the seventh inning, as she allowed just one runner to reach base on a single to the right side. However, it was no harm, no foul, as Williams six batter popped out to Macziewski and the seven hitter hit a grounder to George, keeping the Wildcats within one with the top of the order due at the plate.

Unfortunately, St. Kate's was unable to get the rally going, despite quality at bats from Hinderaker, Woebke and Montero, resulting in a 6-5 loss and the team's elimination from the NCAA Championship round.

Despite the loss, the Wildcats have plenty to be proud of this 2017 season. After a 2016 season that seemed as though it couldn't be beat, St. Kate's went ahead and won 38 games in 2017, a program record, and tallied just 14 losses during the season. The Wildcats also won both the NCAA Regional and Super Regional Championships for the first time in program history and knocked off two ranked teams in the process. St. Kate's had a record number of student-athletes earn postseason recognition as well, as give Wildcats were named All-Conference by the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), three earned All-Region honors, and George and Flugstad became the first student-athletes in program history to be named All-Americans.