Strother Throws No-Hitter, Offense Explodes as No. 15 Bulldogs Complete Dallas Sweep

IRVING, Texas -- No. 15 Texas Lutheran completed the series sweep over University of Dallas on Saturday, beating the Crusaders 9-2 in Saturday's opening game before defeating the Crusaders 17-0 in five innings for its fourth run-rule victory of the season.

TLU (12-2, 5-1) secured its second conference series win and first sweep of SCAC competition. TLU completed the three-game conference sweep in dominating fashion, outscoring the Crusaders 41-2 and outhitting Dallas 55-4 on the weekend. TLU's pitching staff struck out 34 batters on the weekend.

On Saturday, TLU stole 18 bases to total 23 on the weekend and 43 over the course of their six conference games this week. Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek) led the way stealing nine bases on Saturday, including matching her own single-game record set last season by stealing six bases in game one on Saturday. Linzee Leal (Corpus Christi/Mary Carroll) and Annie Kay (Sinton/Sinton) would each steal four bases on the weekend.

In the circle, TLU's trio of senior Sydney Ouellette (Corpus Christi/Gregory-Portland), sophomore transfer Ainsley Davis (Rockwall/Jesuit (OR)), and sophomore Katelyn Howard (Waller/Hempstead) each saw action on the day, with Ouellette (3.0 IP) striking out three, Davis (2.2 IP) striking out four, and Howard (1.1 IP) fanning two. Davis picked up her first win of the Bulldog, improving to 1-0 on the season.

Texas Lutheran immediately went on the attack in the first inning with Clark leading the game off with a single, stealing second and third and scoring on a throwing error from the Dallas catcher to put TLU up 1-0 before fans were comfortable in their seats. After a double from Jayna Reid (Dripping Springs/Dripping Springs), Tatum Seith (Hewitt/Midway) hit the first home run of her collegiate career to give TLU a 3-0 lead.

In the third, an RBI single from Kourtney Bellinger (Houston/Grand Oaks) scored Tavery Ortiz (Texas City/Texas City) before Reagan Hillis (Cedar Park/Cedar Park) plated Bellinger with an RBI single of her own.

Dallas cut into the TLU lead with runs in the third and fourth to shrink the TLU lead to 5-2. Davis would get out of the fourth with a strikeout, stranding two base runners.

TLU got the runs back and more in the sixth as Caelee Clark stole home, Tavery Ortiz ripped a single to score Tatum Seith, and Kourtney Bellinger drove in Ortiz with an RBI single for the second time in the game.

A sacrifice fly from Madison Johnson (Round Rock/Round Rock) added an extra insurance run in the seventh inning to close the game's scoring.

Texas Lutheran tallied 17 hits with six Bulldogs having multi-hit performances and five driving in at least one run. Tavery Ortiz led the way with a 4-for-4 game with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. Caelee Clark was 3-for-5 with six stolen bases and two runs scored. Tatum Seith and Kourtney Bellinger drove in two runs apiece.

Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls) continued her dominance in the circle, following up her perfect game on Friday with a complete game no-hitter vs. Dallas in the series finale, while the offense blasted 22 hits on the day en route to an 17-0 run-rule victory over the Crusaders.

The offensive explosion was highlighted by a six-run second and a seven-run third inning.

The scoring began in the first inning courtesy of an RBI single from Tavery Ortiz, a sacrifice fly from Serena Gonzalez (Corpus Christi/Foy H. Moody) and an RBI fielder's choice from Reagan Hillis.

The Bulldogs would truly break the game open in the second. After back-to-back singles from Annie Kay and Caelee Clark to start the inning, Tatum Seith would drive in Kay with an RBI single before Ortiz would drive in Clark with a sacrifice fly. An RBI single from Kylee Jack (Richwood/Brazoswood) would drive in Seith. An RBI double from Hillis, an RBI single from Linzee Leal, and an RBI bunt single would conclude the scoring in the second with a score of 9-0.

The third inning saw TLU plate seven runs on seven hits and an error. The scoring onslaught began with RBI singles from Jack, Taylor Vannett (Kingwood/Kingwood) and Hillis. Brooklyn Stone (Rancho Cucamonga, CA/Alta Loma) pinch-hit for Annie Kay and hit a sacrifice fly for her first career RBI. Olivia Prinz (Georgetown/Georgetown), who missed the entire 2023 season due to injury, would hit a pinch-hit RBI single for her first hit and RBI since returning to play.

A sacrifice fly from Tavery Ortiz would drive in her team-leading third run of the game with a sacrifice fly to conclude the inning's scoring.

An infield RBI single from Harleigh Russell (Fort Worth/Boswell) would bring the final tally to 17-0.

Strother twirled her second no-hitter of the weekend, striking out 12 of her 16 batters faced and was just one walk shy of her second perfect game. It was TLU's second no-hitter of the season and 35th in program history. The no-hitter was the second of the season for Strother, fourth individual of her career, and sixth overall. The shutout is her fifth of the season and her fourth straight.

The 22 hits by the TLU offense was the most in a single-game since 2014 when the Bulldogs registered 23 hits against the Schreiner Mountaineers in a 23-7 victory. Thirteen Bulldogs registered a hit, with only one hit being an extra base hit, with 11 bringing in at least one run led by Ortiz's three RBI.

For the first time in nearly two months, the Bulldogs return to Ed Kruse Stadium on Tuesday to begin a five-game homestand starting with a Tuesday non-conference doubleheader against Texas A&M-San Antonio. First pitch is scheduled for 5 & 7 PM. All games will be streamed on TLU's YouTube Channel, TLU+. All streaming and live stats links can be found 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).