ROCHESTER, MINN. – The season is only just beginning for the St. Catherine University softball team. After a somewhat disappointing split in Rochester, Minnesota on Saturday, the Wildcats were looking for a clean sweep over two teams from Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Carroll University. St. Kate's salvaged a split with the two teams, as its late rally came up short in a 4-3 loss to the Blugolds before it rebounded for a big 11-3 win over the Pioneers in the final game of the day.
 
After defensive miscues in the second and third innings, St. Kate's trailed UW-Eau Claire 4-1 entering the final inning of play. The Wildcats did manage to get a few offensive rallies going but were never quite able to get runners across the plate. Jenna George (Ellsworth, Wis. / Ellsworth) led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a monster double that went into the next field, resulting in St. Kate's first run of the ball game. However, that was the lone run the Wildcats scored before the seventh inning, as they stranded multiple base runners in the ensuring two innings.
 
Down to its final three outs, St. Kate's got a rally going in the bottom of the seventh, as Trish Sherman (Roseville, Minn. / Roseville) and Anna Hinderaker (Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount) both scored to cut the Blugolds lead to 4-3. Sherman scored on Hinderaker's double to lead off the inning, while the junior left field scored on a steal play by senior shortstop Kylie Macziewski (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) to make it 4-3 with the heart of the Wildcats line up at the plate. Unfortunately, Amber Montero (Circle Pines, Minn. / Centennial) grounded out to the first basemen during the next at bat, resulting in the 4-3 loss for St. Kate's.
 
The second go around went much better for the Wildcats, as they cruised to an 11-3 victory over Carroll University. However, the game was tight through the first three innings of play. The Pioneers took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to two hits off senior ace Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson). St. Kate's, though, responded nicely in the top of the second. Gerorge drew a leadoff walk, prompting head coach Colleen Powers to put in the speedy Gabby Nordman (Cloquet, Minn. / Denfield) at first. Sammie Galvez (Gilbert, Ariz. / Williams Field) drew another walk to put runners on first and second before first year Mikayla Grant (Mantorville, Minn. / Kasson-Mantorville) hit a huge clutch double to bring both runners home and give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead.
 
Grant eventually scored on Ashley Sis' (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) double, and Sis was later brought in by Hinderaker, putting St. Kate's ahead 4-1 after two innings of play. However, Carroll made things interesting in the bottom of the very same inning, as it cut the Wildcats lead to 4-3. The Pioneers six and eight batters drew walks and eventually scored on an RBI single by nine-hitter Rosie Craine. With only one out in the inning, it looked like Carroll was going to take a lead on a single up the middle, but Grant made a huge diving catch to get the out at first before Sis threw out Craine at third to end the inning with a double play.
 
From there, St. Kate's offense continued to roll. While the Wildcats didn't score in the third inning, they did threaten again by putting two runners on during the inning. In the top of the fourth, though, St. Kate's could not be contained offensively. Sherman, Hinderaker and Macziewski opened the inning with back-to-back-to-back singles, loading the bases for Flugstad, the team's No. 3 hitter. The senior certainly did not disappoint, as her ground rule double over the fence scored Sherman and Hinderaker and put Macziewski at third. More importantly, it extended the Wildcats lead to 6-3. George followed that up by hitting a sacrifice fly, allowing Macziewski to score from third to extend the lead to 7-3.
 
That lead was all St. Kate's offense needed to give Flugstad, who was absolute gold on the mound through the final four innings. After giving up the two runs in the second, Flugstad sent 15 of the next 18 Pioneer batters down and did not give up a single Carroll hit. She was completely dominant in the sixth and seventh innings, as she struck out four of six batters to clinch the victory for the Wildcats.
 
Of course, while Flugstad was busy doing brilliant things on the mound, St. Kate's hitters were busy scoring in the top of every inning. After a quiet fifth inning, the Wildcats tacked on three more runs in the sixth, taking a 10-3 lead thanks to runs from Macziewski, Bailee Sillman (Chippewa Falls, Wis. / Chippewa Falls) and George. The team added one more in the top of the seventh, as Alyssa Wicks (Blaine, Minn. / Anoka) recorded her first collegiate hit and later run thanks to an RBI single from, who else but, George to clinch the 11-3 victory for St. Kate's.
 
Thanks to Sunday's split, the Wildcats open the season with a 2-2 record in nonconference play. St. Kate's will return to the field on March 2 when it participates in the NFCA Division III Classic in Tucson, Arizona.