MINNEAPOLIS -- The Augsburg College softball team opened its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season with a pair of losses to St. Catherine University, falling 5-0 and 9-0, in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at the Edor Nelson Field dome.

THE BASICS
GAME SCORES: St. Catherine 5, Augsburg 0; St. Catherine 9, Augsburg 0
LOCATION: Edor Nelson Field, Minneapolis
RECORDS: Augsburg 2-4 overall (0-2 MIAC), St. Catherine 5-1 overall (2-0 MIAC)

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS
• All five St. Catherine runs in the first game came via the long ball, as the Wildcats hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning and a two-run homer in the seventh.
• Augsburg was limited to three hits in the game -- a single by Haley Larson (FY, Shakopee, Minn./Prior Lake HS) in the third inning, a single by Brianna Cline (FY, St. Clair, Minn.) in the fifth inning and a double by Lauren Torborg (SO, Brooklyn Park, Minn./Park Center HS) in the sixth.
• Courtney Larsen (FY, Little Canada, Minn./Concordia Academy HS) had a strikeout in five innings of pitching for the Auggies.

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS
• St. Catherine scored three runs in the first inning, a run in the sixth inning and five runs in the seventh inning to pull away from Augsburg in the second game.
• Jacqueline Nichols (FY, Royalton, Minn.) had two hits for the Auggies -- singles in the second and fifth innings. Bekka Kelly (SR, Columbia Heights, Minn.) had the other Auggie hit, a single in the fifth inning.
• Larsen pitched 6.2 innings for the Auggies, striking out one while walking two.

FOR THE FOES
• St. Catherine hitters had four doubles and three home runs in the doubleheader. Ashley Sis hit a three-run homer and Kylie Macziewski hit a two-run homer in the first game, and Michaela Bruns hit a two-run homer in the second game. 
• Megan Lindenfelser struck out six while allowing a walk and three hits in six innings of pitching in the first game, with Kailee Berquam recording a strikeout against a walk in an inning of relief. Krista Flugstad pitched a complete-game victory in the second game, striking out 12 while not allowing a walk and giving up just three hits.
• Macziewski and Claire Woebke had four hits each for the Wildcats in the doubleheader, with Macziewski recording five RBI. Lindenfelser had two doubles in the doubleheader.

UP NEXT
• Augsburg travels to Southern California for five doubleheaders during Spring Break week, starting next Saturday (3/14) at 10 a.m. with a doubleheader at St. Katherine (Calif.).
• St. Catherine faces Maranatha Baptist (Wis.), Martin Luther and North Central (Minn.) in single games on March 20 at the Plymouth (Minn.) Dome.