Texas Lutheran Tops No. 15 St. John Fisher, Coe Sweep Day One of Leadoff Classic

COLUMBUS, GA -- No. 3 Texas Lutheran (6-2) swept through day one at the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division-III Leadoff Classic on Friday, defeating 15th-ranked St. John Fisher 5-3 before topping Coe College 8-5 in a comeback victory.

Texas Lutheran hit .316 over the two games including a trio of home runs in the second game to spark a rally. Sophomore Laura Hernandez (Missouri City/Ridge Point) hit her first home run of the season while Chassety Raines (Spring/Klein Collins) hit her third of the season - tying for first in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference - and Bailey Hudgeons (Dripping Springs/Dripping Springs) hit her second of the season.

In game one, Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls) threw a complete game in the circle, striking out 12 Cardinals on the afternoon while six Bulldogs registered at least one hit offensively.

Raines opened the scoring with an RBI double in the second inning before an infield single from Casey Martin (Pearland/Pearland) extended the Bulldogs lead in the third. Laura Hernandez continued the scoring in the sixth - ripping an RBI single to left field scoring Lexi Coward (Rockwall/Rockwall). After pinch running for Hernandez, Linzee Leal (Corpus Christi/Mary Carroll) would score on a double steal to bring the Bulldogs to their final tally of five runs in the bottom of the sixth.

After allowing a second inning single, Strother would hold the Cardinals hitless until the top of the seventh when their offense showed signs of life before she quieted the rally - striking out her final batter.

Texas Lutheran turned around to face Coe College (0-2) in the second game of the day, putting up eight runs on 10 hits. The Bulldogs started the game in an early deficit trailing 5-1 through three innings with an RBI double from Bailey Hudgeons in the top of the third as the only offense entering the top of the fourth following a four run bottom of the third from the Eagles.

The Bulldogs would respond by scoring in three straight innings. A solo home run from Hernandez followed by an RBI single from Kelly Jurden (Brenham/Brenham) would get the rally started in the top of the fourth. Bulldogs would get back on the board in the fifth via a two-run home run from Chassety Raines. Bailey Hudgeons, who scored on the Raines home run, would break the 5-5 tie hitting a three-run home run of her own to bring her RBI total to four for the game and give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game, 8-5.

Amanda White (Lockhart/Lockhart) collected her first win of the season tossing four scoreless innings in relief, striking out five and surrendering three hits and walking one batter. Sophomore Sydney Ouellette (Corpus Christi/Gregory-Portland) got the start and and struck out four in three innings, giving up five runs on seven hits, with all runs being unearned.

The third-ranked Bulldogs turn around for two ranked games on Saturday vs. No. 1 DePauw (9 AM CST) and No. 16 Trine (11 AM CST). All streaming and stat links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.