Bulldogs Sweep Case Western, Jurden Sets SCAC Hits Record

SEGUIN, Texas -- No. 1 Texas Lutheran (11-3) swept the visiting Case Western Reserve Spartans Thursday evening at Ed Kruse Stadium, shutting out the Spartans in game one and run-ruling them in game two.

The day was highlighted by a record-setting day from TLU outfielder Kelly Jurden (Brenham/Brenham) who set the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) record for career hits (214), eclipsing the record of 211 hits previously held by DePauw University's Rachel Gill (2006-09), and breaking the Texas Lutheran record for career walks (82) previously held by Grace Estes (81, 2013-16). Jurden is currently one walk short of matching the current SCAC record for career walks held by Centre College's Regina Sena (83, 2009-12). Jurden finished the day 3-for-6 with two walks, three runs scored, and seven stolen bases - regaining the SCAC lead in stolen bases for the season with 16.

In game one, Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls) continued her hot start to the season throwing a complete game shutout, striking out 10 Spartans and only walking a single batter. This is Strother's third complete game in her last four starts as well as her third time tallying 10+ strikeouts in her last four starts. Strother currently leads the SCAC - and is 8th in the country - in strikeouts with 55, averaging 9.71 strikeouts per 7-innings.

Olivia Prinz (Georgetown/Georgetown) got the scoring started in the second inning - scoring Kirsten Williams (Pearland/Glenda Dawson) on a fielder's choice. Madison Johnson (Round Rock/Round Rock) added to the lead in the fourth inning with a 2-RBI double before Casey Martin (Pearland/Pearland) followed with an RBI single scoring Johnson to extend the Bulldogs lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning. A Brandalyn Dee (Cibolo/Steele) sacrifice fly would cap the Bulldogs four-run fourth inning and give Strother more than enough run support as she held the Spartans to two hits for the remainder of the game and four hits in total.

In the second game of the day, Texas Lutheran would put up 10 runs on 10 hits to run-rule the Spartans. After two second inning runs from Case Western, Texas Lutheran would respond with five of their own in the bottom of the inning. Olivia Prinz and Pacey White (Spring/Klein Collins) would score on a Case Western throwing error to get the scoring started in the second. Lexi Coward (Rockwall/Rockwall) would come in to pinch run and would immediately steal home to pour on another run for the Bulldogs. Chassety Raines (Spring/Klein Collins) would hit a two-run home run, her fourth home run of the season, as the Bulldogs took a 5-2 lead entering the top of the third. With that home run, Raines tied teammate Bailey Hudgeons (Dripping Springs/Dripping Springs) for the SCAC lead in the category, moving into the top ten nationally in the process.

TLU put up four more runs across the third and fifth innings to bring the game into run-rule territory. Following a fifth inning Casey Martin walk, Martin surprised an unexpecting Spartans defense by attempting to immediately steal second, giving Kelly Jurden the opportunity to steal home to close the game's scoring and bring the Bulldogs to 11-3 on the year.

Seven Bulldogs recorded a hit in game two led by a 3-for-3 performance from Jurden and a 2-for-3 performance from Faith Hernandez (Dinuba, Calif./Dinuba).

Amanda White (Lockhart/Lockhart) got the start and collected her third win of the season, going four innings, striking out one batter and surrendering two runs on five hits and no walks.

The top-ranked Bulldogs open conference play this weekend as they travel to Kerrville, Texas to face Schreiner University on Saturday, March 12. First pitch is scheduled for 1 PM and 3 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).