Texas Lutheran Closes Leadoff Classic with Sunday Sweep

COLUMBUS, GA -- No. 3 Texas Lutheran finished the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Leadoff Classic with a 12-2 run-rule victory over Emory University and 3-0 shutout victory over Manhattanville Sunday at the South Commons Complex in Columbus, Georgia.

Freshman Olivia Prinz (Georgetown/Georgetown) broke the game open with a third inning grand slam, her first career home run, to cap off a six run Bulldogs inning to give Texas Lutheran a 7-1 lead. The Texas Lutheran offense tallied 11 hits in five innings to run-rule Emory. Nine different Bulldogs registered a hit in the contest led by two hits each from Kelly Jurden (Brenham/Brenham) and Bailey Hudgeons (Dripping Springs/Dripping Springs). Hudgeons, Jurden, Casey Martin (Pearland/Pearland), Laura Hernandez (Missouri City/Ridge Point), Sarah Metzer (Sugar Land/Dulles), and Murphy Williams (Gladewater/Gladewater) all brought in runs on RBI singles while a sacrifice fly from Faith Hernandez (Dinuba, Calif./Dinuba) would score another.

Sophomore Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls) was masterful in the circle for the Bulldogs continuing her impressive weekend - striking out six in four innings to pick up her fifth win of the season. For the weekend, Strother went 3-0 with 31 strikeouts.

Approximately 40 minutes later, TLU turned around to face the Valiants of Manhattanville and continued their dominant day.

Junior pitcher Amanda White (Lockhart/Lockhart) commanded a no-hitter for four and two-thirds as she went the distance for the Bulldogs for a complete game shutout, striking out one and surrendering just two hits to the 23 batters she faced.

A Chassety Raines (Spring/Klein Collins) sacrifice fly would get the scoring started in the first inning to give the Bulldogs an immediate 1-0 lead. After stealing third base, Kirsten Williams (Pearland/Glenda Dawson) would score on a throwing error from the Valiants catcher in the fourth and Olivia Prinz would hit her second home run of the day to left center in the fifth inning to give the Bulldogs their winning tally of 3-0.

Texas Lutheran is outscoring opponents 79-31, nine of which have been unearned. The Bulldogs have hit 12 home runs this season for an average of one per game.

TLU concludes the NFCA Leadoff Classic with a 5-1 record with their only loss coming to No.1 DePauw. Junior outfielder Bailey Hudgeons was named to the NFCA Division-III All-Tournament Team, the NFCA announced Sunday night. For the weekend, Hudgeons hit .632 with three home runs and eight RBI in six games this weekend. Hudgeons now leads the SCAC in batting average, home runs, RBI, total bases, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.

Texas Lutheran returns to Ed Kruse Stadium on Thursday, March 10, to face the visiting Case Western Reserve Spartans in a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 3 & 5 PM. All streaming and stat links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.

For more information on Texas Lutheran softball, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter and Instagram (@TLUsoftball) 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, @tlubulldogs on Instagram and Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on TikTok).