Bulldogs Drop Two to Division-II St. Mary's

SEGUIN, TX -- The No. 3-ranked Texas Lutheran University softball team played two tightly contested games against Division-II foe St. Mary's University (9-2, 0-0 LSC) but would drop both games of their mid-week doubleheader 2-1 at Ed Kruse Stadium.

Texas Lutheran (2-2, 0-0 SCAC) would get the scoring started in Game 1 as Murphy Williams (Gladewater/Gladewater) continued her productive start to the season at the plater, driving in her third run of the season in the bottom of the first to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. The game would become a pitcher's dual over the next 3-4 innings as both teams traded zeros on the scoreboard. Pitcher Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls) would work six innings striking out two Rattlers and allowing a lone run in the 5th inning that would allow the Rattlers to make it a tie ball game.

Williams would enter the circle for the Bulldogs in the top of the 7th. St. Mary's used three singles to load the bases after the pitching change, but Williams would work her way out of the inning and head to the dugout unscathed as the score remained 1-1 heading into the bottom of the 7th.

The Rattlers would manage to tally one run off of Sydney Ouellette (Corpus Christi/Gregory-Portland) in the top of the 8th and the Bulldogs were unable to respond in the 8th bringing game one to a 2-1 conclusion.

The Bulldogs trailed early and throughout against the Rattlers in Game Two after a two-run second inning gave the visiting St. Mary's squad an early 2-0 lead.

Junior Bailey Hudgeons (Dripping Springs/Dripping Springs) got Texas Lutheran on the board via a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Ouellette would go the distance in game two striking out three batters and allowing two runs, one unearned on seven hits. The Bulldogs weren't able to push another run across after the fourth inning and would fall in the back end of the doubleheader 2-1.

The Bulldogs will now prepare for a doubleheader with Babson College on Friday, Feb. 25th which will make for a final tuneup before the Bulldogs head to Columbus, Georgia for the NFCA Leadoff Classic where they will face three top 25 teams over the course of the weekend tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 5 and 7 PM on Feb. 25th against the Babson Beavers at Ed Kruse Stadium. All streaming and stat links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.