ST. PAUL, MINN. – For the past two weeks, the St. Catherine University softball team has shown it can deal with pressure packed situations. No situation, though, may have been more pressure packed than Saturday morning's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) semifinal against the University of St. Thomas. If the Wildcats beat the top-seed in the conference tournament, they would advance to the MIAC Championship game on Sunday.

St. Kate's was up for the challenge, as junior ace Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) and a hot offense guided the Wildcats to a 10-2, six inning victory over the Tommies to advance to the MIAC Championship game.

The Wildcats wasted no time getting on the board in the top of the first, as they took a quick 2-0 lead over St. Thomas. Claire Woebke (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) laced a single up the middle to give St. Kate's its first baserunner of the game. Woebke, though, wasn't on base for very long, as Kylie Macziewski (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) jacked a ball over the left field fence for her eighth home run of the season to give the Wildcats the 2-0 lead.

St. Kate's added two more runs in the second inning, as Ashley Sis (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) and Sammie Galvez (Gilbert, Ariz. / Williams Field) scored on a two-out single by Anna Hinderaker (Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount) to extend the lead to 4-0.

The Tommies answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning, as Dana Connelly scored on a single to the left side by Megan Bush. However, the Wildcats had an answer of their own, as they scored four runs off St. Thomas starter Sammy Hogan to extend the lead to 8-1. After Jenna George (Ellsworth, Wis. / Ellsworth) drew a one out walk to give St. Kate's a base runner, pinch runner Miranda Mader (St. Paul, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall) and Amber Montero (Circle Pines, Minn. / Centennial) both scored on a single up the middle by Galvez. Galvez later scored on a RBI single by Hinderaker to give the Wildcats an 8-1 lead.

Neither team managed to score in the fourth or fifth innings. After giving up the run in the second inning, Flugstad shut down St. Thomas' powerful offense and pitched out of every jam she found herself in. The Tommies threatened in both the third and fourth innings, but Flugstad tallied two of her six strikeouts in those situations and got a ground out to George to end both threats.

After two scoreless innings, St. Kate's broke the game open with a two-run sixth inning. Macziewski and George led off the inning with back-to-back hits, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Montero's single to the left side scored Macziewski, and Flugstad scored George to extend the Wildcats lead to 10-1.

St. Thomas did manage to score one run in the sixth, but it was no harm, no foul as Flugstad stopped the potential rally with a fielder's choice to George to end the game in the bottom of the sixth and give St. Kate's the 10-2 win.

Macziewski and Montero led all hitters on the day, as both went 3-4 at the plate with at least one run. Macziewski also broke the school record for career RBI by recording the 82 and 83 RBIs of her career with the home run. Flugstad earned her 22^nd win of the season with the victory, allowing just two runs on seven hits with six strikeouts.

With the win, St. Kate's improves to 31-11 on the season and advances to Sunday 11 a.m. MIAC Championship game, where it will take on Hamline University. Tickets for the game are $8 for adults and $3 for children.