TYLER, TEXAS – The St. Catherine University softball team has a history of playing its best ball of the season against the top teams in the nation. On Sunday, the Wildcats were certainly up for their biggest challenge of the season, as they were set to take on the No. 3 team in the country, the University of Texas-Tyler. Despite a hard fought battle, St. Kate's was blanked in both games of the doubleheader, falling 9-0 in the opener before dropping the second game 4-0.
Errors proved costly for the Wildcats in the opening game of the series, as the Patriots scored five unearned runs in the opening two innings of play. After a rough opening inning at the plate, it looked like St. Kate's and senior ace
Krista Flugstad (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) were going to hold the red-hot Texas-Tyler offense to no runs in the first inning. However, with two outs in the inning, a costly error at second base and two hit batsman resulted in a 2-0 Patriot lead after one.
Texas-Tyler added three more unearned runs in the second and one in the third to take a 6-0 lead over the Wildcats after three innings of play. Unfortunately for St. Kate's, the team was unable to answer offensively, as the team did not managed to get a base runner on through the first four innings of play. However, in the top of the fifth, it looked like the Wildcats were going to get a small rally going.
Jenna George (Ellsworth, Wis. / Ellsworth) earned a one-out walk to give St. Kate's its first base runner of the game. Flugstad followed that up by getting hit by a pitch, resulting in runners on first and second with just one out in the game.
Unfortunately, the Wildcats were unable to capitalize on the scoring chance, and the Patriots scored three more runs in the bottom of the inning to end the game early. However, things turned around for St. Kate's in the second game, as the team put two runners on base in the first inning.
Amber Montero (Circle Pines, Minn. / Centennial) and
Ashley Sis (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) reached base on walks, putting runners on first and second for George. Unfortunately, the junior third baseman popped out to the catcher, ending the Wildcats early rally.
Defensively, St. Kate's no hit the Patriots through the first four innings of play, as
Maddie Greer (Oakdale, Minn. / North St. Paul) was dealing from inside the circle. The sophomore tallied three strikeouts through the first three innings of play and allowed just one Texas-Tyler run to cross the plate. Unfortunately, the Patriots figured Greer out in the fifth inning. After holding Texas-Tyler's powerful bats at bay, Greer gave up a leadoff double to open the inning before back-to-back homers gave the Patriots a 4-0 lead.
However, St. Kate's managed to stop the bleeding, as Flugstad went in and pitched the Wildcats out of the jam. Still, St. Kate's offense struggled to put runners on base, as Texas-Tyler's Whitney Romero was too much, resulting in the 4-0 loss.
Sammie Galvez (Gilbert, Ariz. / Williams Field) was the lone Wildcat to record a hit in Sunday's doubleheader with her single up the middle in game two. Montero, Sis, George and Flugstad were the only other base runners for St. Kate's, as they all reached either with a walk or by getting hit by a pitch.
The Wildcats overall record falls to 5-7 after Sunday's two losses. St. Kate's looks to rebound in Monday's match against Mary-Hardin-Baylor. First pitch of the doubleheader is set to begin at 5 p.m. in Tyler, Texas.
