Strother Deals, Bulldogs Complete Sweep of Tigers

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- No. 3 Texas Lutheran completed the SCAC series sweep over Trinity on Saturday, beating the Tigers 9-0 win at Trinity Softball Field in San Antonio.

TLU (30-3, 14-1 SCAC) secured its fifth conference series win and fourth sweep of SCAC competition.

Senior Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls) was exceptional in the circle, throwing a no-hitter through 5.2 innings before surrendering a two out single to right field to Trinity (7-26, 4-10 SCAC) in the sixth. The senior finished with a line of no runs, one hit, two walks, and 11 strikeouts. Sydney Ouellette (Corpus Christi/Gregory-Portland) would finish the game in the seventh striking out two of the three batters she faced in her spotless inning of work. The shutout was TLU's NCAA Division-III leading 18th of the season and Strother's SCAC-leading 14th win of the year in the circle.

The Bulldogs offense put up nine runs on 10 hits, highlighted by freshman Caelee Clark's (Montgomery/Lake Creek) three RBI day.

TLU began its scoring in the third with Annie Kay (Sinton/Sinton) scoring on a groundout by Madison Johnson (Round Rock/Round Rock).

The Bulldogs put up three runs in the fifth inning. Serena Gonzalez (Corpus Christi/Foy H. Moody) continued her hot streak at the plate with a two-RBI single. Later in the inning, Bailey Hudgeons (Dripping Springs/Dripping Springs) and Harleigh Russell (Fort Worth/Boswell) would execute a double steal that would see Russell steal home to give TLU a 4-0 lead.

Annie Kay would score again on an error by the Trinity second baseman in the sixth as TLU extended its lead to 5-0.

Texas Lutheran plated four runs on four hits in the seventh.

Kloee Wells (Dayton/Dayton) started the scoring with a pinch-hit RBI single to plate Kylee Jack (Richwood/Brazoswood) before a bases loaded double from Caelee Clark would clear the bases, bringing the game to its final score of 9-0.

Annie Kay would score her fourth run of the game in the seventh - tying a TLU program record for runs scored in a game. The four run feat was last accomplished by Kelly Jurden (3x) and Chassety Raines in 2021. Kay would also steal four bases on the day, tying for third most in a single-game in program history. As a team, TLU would steal 10 bases Saturday, bringing their NCAA Division-III leading total to 134.

Bailey Hudgeons and Isabella Rodriguez (Pearland/Pearland) led TLU at the plate with 2-for-4 performances with a stolen base each. Rodriguez would also add a run scored. Annie Kay would finish 1-for-1 with two walks.

The Bulldogs turn their attention to a three-game series against the St. Thomas at Ed Kruse Stadium on April 21-22. First pitch for Friday's first game is scheduled for 4 PM. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.

For more information on Texas Lutheran softball, follow the Bulldogs on Facebook (@txlutheransoftball), 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).