TUCSON, ARIZ. – The season is starting to heat up for the St. Catherine University softball team, both literally and figuratively. After opening the season in Rochester, Minnesota last weekend, St. Kate's is off to warmer, sunnier places, as the team is set to participate in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) DIII Leadoff Classic in Tucson, Arizona.
 
The Wildcats were one of several teams invited to the tournament, which will take place March 2-4 at Lincoln Park in Tucson, Arizona. St. Kate's will play six games over the weekend against the top teams in the nation, including several currently ranked in the top-25 polls.
 
Live stats will be available for two of the six games the Wildcats play this weekend, the first being Saturday's 11:30 a.m. MST game against Otterbein and the other Sunday's game against MIT. Score updates can also be found on St. Kate's official Twitter page (@stkateswildcats) when available.
 
Here are the five things to know before the Wildcats take the field this weekend:
 
6 – St. Kate's will play six nonconference games in a three-day time span in sunny Tucson, Arizona. All six teams were nationally or regionally ranked at some point last season, including the Wildcats. More specifics for the weekend's schedule can be found here.
 
.600 – Junior outfielder Anna Hinderaker (Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount) was named the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Week after an outstanding opening weekend in Rochester, Minnesota. As St. Kate's leadoff hitter, Hinderaker tallied nine hits in 15 at bats for a .600 batting average over the weekend. She also tallied four stolen bases and did not make a single error in left field.
 
3 – In addition to Hinderaker, two other Wildcats are hovering around the .600 batting average mark, specifically Jenna George (Ellsworth, Wis. / Ellsworth) and Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson). The reigning All-Americans are hitting .545 and .500 after the first weekend of play, as they've combined for 12 hits in 23 at bats over a four game time span.
 
49 – Thanks to her three walks over the weekend, senior first baseman Ashley Sis (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) broke the school record for career-walks, previously held by teammate Claire Woebke (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson). Sis tied the record in St. Kate's loss to UW-Stout on Saturday before breaking it with a walk in a win over Nebraska Wesleyan later that afternoon. She has now been walked 49 times in her career.
 
5 – Sis didn't even have the most walks on the weekend, though. Senior shortstop Kylie Macziewski (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) racked up five walks over the course of last weekend, the highest total over a two-day time span in her career. In fact, Macziewski has half as many walks in 2018 as she did in all of 2017, as she walked just 10 times last season.