SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College softball team battled the St. Catherine University Wildcats on Thursday in the opening round of the MIAC Playoffs. The Gusties rallied to tie the game with a big inning after falling behind early, but the Wildcats went on to take the game 8-5.
St. Catherine jumped out to an early lead with a three-run first inning. The Wildcats added two more runs in the second to go up 5-0.
In the bottom of the second, the Gusties rallied with a five-run inning to tie the game. After the first three batters reached to load the bases,
Olivia Guggenberger drove in
Hailey Petzel from third for the first Gustavus run of the game.
In the next at bat,
Taylor Katzenmeyer singled to center field to drive in
Macy McNally for the second Gustie run.
Two batters later with two outs,
Caitlin Olafsson had an infield single to short that scored
Carly Olson from third to make it 5-3.
After a walk and a pitching change,
Paige Gritzmaker stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and hit the ball to the outfield grass in center to drive in both Olaffson and
Taylor Katzenmeyer, tying the game up at 5-5.
St. Kate's retook the lead in the top of the third, scoring twice to go up 7-5. The Wildcats added one more insurance run in the top of the seventh and closed out the game in the bottom half of the final frame as Gustavus fell 8-5.
The Gusties concluded their 2026 spring season with a 20-19 overall record. In the MIAC, Gustavus went 13-9 and closed out their regular season with a 7-1 run to jump up to the No. 4 seed in the conference postseason.
