TUCSON, ARIZ. – The St. Catherine University softball team is used to seeing records fall on a weekly basis. Why, in the opening weekend of the season, the Wildcats saw their first school record of the season fall, as senior first basemen Ashley Sis (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) broke the school record for career walks. That trend continued Friday at the NFCA Division III Leadoff Classic, as St. Kate's saw one school record fall as it split its games against Claremont-Mudd-Spriggs and Pacific Lutheran.
 
After taking a tough 9-1 loss to Claremont-Mudd-Spriggs in their opening game of the tournament, the Wildcats responded with a huge 10-3 win over Pacific Lutheran. However, it didn't look like things were going to go St. Kate's way in the opening inning of play, as sophomore pitcher Maddie Greer (Oakdale, Minn. / North St. Paul) gave up back-to-back hits in the top of the inning to put Lute runners on first and second with no outs.
 
Greer and the Wildcat defense managed to get out of the jam without surrendering a single run. Pacific Lutheran's three hitter hit a grounder to Jenna George (Ellsworth, Wis. / Ellsworth), who gunned down the runner at home for out number one before Greer struck out the clean up batter for out number two. The five-hole hitter then lined out to Amber Montero (Circle Pines, Minn. / Centennial) to preserve the 0-0 tie after the top of the first.
 
It looked like St. Kate's was going to strike early, after leadoff hitter Anna Hinderaker (Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount) reached first on a single and was bunted to second by Kylie Macziewski (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson). However, George was unable to bring Hinderaker around from second, as she flew out to deep left field to end the inning.
 
St. Kate's certainly didn't throw away its shot to score in the second inning, as the team took a 1-0 lead in the inning. Catcher Sammie Galvez (Gilbert, Ariz. / Williams Field) scored the Wildcats first run of the ball game thanks to an RBI single from Trish Sherman (Roseville, Minn. / Roseville). St. Kate's threatened to score more in the inning, as the team loaded the bases with two outs and the top of the order due up, but a line out and ground out ended the inning.
 
Despite back-to-back singles from Macziewski and George, the Wildcats were held scoreless in the third inning. However, that certainly didn't mean the team was done scoring, as St. Kate's offensive unleashed its power and tacked on six runs in the fourth to take a 7-0 lead. Claire Woebke (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) led off the inning with a double before Sherman and her hot-bat scored Woebke from second to extend the Wildcats lead to 2-0.
 
From there, the team was off and running. Sherman scored during Hinderaker's ensuing at bat, before Macziewski brought the speedy lefty home with a RBI double of her own. George then singled Macziewski home, and the Wildcats tacked on three more runs after that to extend their lead to 7-0 after four innings of play.
 
The Lutes eventually managed to score three runs of their own in the top of the fifth inning, cutting St. Kate's lead to 7-3 with two innings left to play. However, the Wildcats answered by scoring three runs of their own in the bottom of the very same inning, thanks to a monster three-run home run by Macziewski. The senior shortstop's blast didn't just give St. Kate's a 10-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth, though. It also broke the Wildcats long standing school record for career-home runs, which Macziewski sat in a three-way tie for at the end of the 2017 season.
 
The three-run inning was all St. Kate's needed to shut down Pacific Lutheran in the final two innings. Although the Lutes threatened in the sixth inning, first year pitcher Kathryn Proper (St. Paul, Minn. / Como Park) pitched her way out of the jam with a double play between George, Woebke and Alyssa Wicks (Blaine, Minn. / Andover). She then sent the Pacific Lutheran batters down in order in the top of the seventh to clinch the 10-3 win for the Wildcats.
 
Macziewski and George were gold for St. Kate's at the plate, as they went a combined 6-7 against the Lutes Friday evening. Macziewski was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, going 3-3 at the plate with two runs and three RBI, while George was 3-4 with one run and one RBI.
 
Sherman was also 2-3 at the plate while Montero finished the game with a .500 batting average after going 2-4 at the plate.
 
With the split, the Wildcats overall record now stands at 3-3. St. Kate's will take on Fontbonne University and Otterbein University at 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. MST on  day two of the NFCA DIII Leadoff Classic.