Three Bulldogs Named to Tucci/NFCA Player & Pitcher of the Year Watch List

SEGUIN, Texas -- Three members of the Texas Lutheran softball team have been named to the 2024 Tucci/NFCA Player and Pitcher of the Year Watch List, the NFCA announced Thursday.

Senior Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls), junior Kylee Jack (Richwood/Brazoswood), and sophomore Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek) are among the 98 student-athletes on the midseason watch list.

Voted on by the NFCA's Division III All-American Committee, the 2024 Tucci/NFCA Player and Pitcher of the Year winners will be announced on June 7 following the conclusion of the NCAA Division III Finals. All student-athletes are eligible for the end-of-the-season awards and do not have to be on this list to be considered. The awards are voted on by the members of the NFCA Division III All-America Committee with one head coach representing each of the 10 NCAA regions. To be eligible, a student-athlete's head coach must be a member.

The Tucci/NFCA Player of the Year award was created in 2016 to honor outstanding softball achievement in NCAA Division III. In 2019, the Association expanded the award to include separate Player and Pitcher of the Year honors.

A Top Ten Finalist for TUCCI/NFCA Division-III National Freshman of the Year, Second Team All-American, and New Balance/NFCA Golden Shoe Award winner a season ago, Clark leads NCAA Division-III with 42 stolen bases in 19 games so far this season and ranks fourth in the SCAC in with a .465 batting average. Clark has 12 RBI to go with two doubles, two triples, and 25 runs scored while reaching base at a .506 clip as the Bulldogs leadoff hitter.

Another All-American and the three-time reigning SCAC Pitcher of the Year, Strother has had yet another dominant start. Strother is 11-0 in 2024 to go with 91 strikeouts. She currently leads the SCAC in wins with earned run average (0.89), and strikeouts. Nationally, Strother ranks second in shutouts (5), is ranked fourth in wins, eighth in strikeouts, 12th in strikeouts per seven innings (10.1), and 10th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (13.00 K/BB). Strother has been named SCAC Pitcher of the Week twice this season while earning NFCA National Pitcher of the Week on March 26 following a week that saw her go 4-0 with 47 strikeouts with a perfect game and a no-hitter in the same weekend against Dallas. On March 18, Strother added to her stellar resume by becoming TLU's all-time strikeouts leader. Strother became TLU's all-time strikeout leader with a program record of 516 strikeouts and counting, surpassing Cathy McBride's previous record of 502. She currently sits at 559 career strikeouts.  

Kylee Jack has had a career season so far in 2024, ranking third in the SCAC with a .469 batting average and fourth in the SCAC with 20 RBIs. Jack has been an offensive weapon for the Bulldogs hitting three home runs and ranking second in the SCAC in slugging percentage (.796) and on-base percentage (.550).

The three Bulldogs and No. 14 Texas Lutheran continue SCAC play as they travel to Kerrville to begin a three-game SCAC series with Schreiner on Saturday, April 6. First pitch is scheduled for 1 & 3 PM. 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).