No. 15 Texas Lutheran Sweeps SCAC Weekly Awards
SEGUIN, Texas -- After sweeping doubleheaders against American Southwest Conference foes, LeTourneau and UT-Dallas, in non-conference action, Kylee Jack (Richwood/Brazoswood) and Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls) were named Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.
The recognition from the SCAC marks the 17th time in program history that the Texas Lutheran softball program earned both the league's top hitter and pitcher weekly honor in the same week. The last time it occurred was April 10, 2023, when Strother and Serena Gonzalez were named the conference's pitcher and hitter of the week, respectively. Jack and Strother shared weekly honors on Feb. 14, 2022.
Jack sparked the Bulldogs offense throughout the program's wins over the YellowJackets and Comets as she led the team in batting average (.750), hits (9), home runs (3), runs batted in (10), total bases (19), slugging percentage (1.583), and on-base percentage (.769). She also turned in her first career multi-home run (2) game against UT-Dallas on against UT-Dallas, while going 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and six runs driven in what made for a historic day for the junior utility player. The two home run performance is the 15th in program history with Serena Gonzalez being responsible for the last occurrence in 2023 while the six RBI performance is the 10th in program history in which one player was responsible for at least six RBI with the last occurrence happening in 2021 with Jack's former TLU teammate Bailey Hudgeons driving in six against Austin College in 2021. Jack also set a program record for total bases in a game with ten.
In the circle, Strother helped the Bulldogs to two wins this weekend. After a nine strikeout complete game shutout on Friday against LeTourneau, Strother picked up her fourth win of the season on Saturday, tossing a complete game allowing two runs on five hits and a walk. Strother struck out eight batters on Saturday as she inches closer to becoming TLU softball's all-time strikeouts leader. After a 17 strikeout weekend this weekend, Strother only trails current record holder Cathy McBride (502, 1994-97) by 12 strikeouts for the all-time record.
TLU looks ahead to the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, GA, beginning Friday, Mar. 1. The Bulldogs will face Belhaven, Babson, Illinois Wesleyan, Chapman, Case Western Reserve, and DePauw over the course of the three-day event. Texas Lutheran has faced all six teams at least once in the last three seasons. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.
For more information on Texas Lutheran softball, follow the Bulldogs on Facebook (@txlutheransoftball), X (Twitter) (@TLUsoftball), and Instagram (@tlu_softball) and as always you can find updates on all Texas Lutheran athletics on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics on Twitter, @tlu_athletics on Instagram and TikTok, and @tlubulldogs on Facebook).