Bulldogs Sweep SCAC Weekly Awards for Second Time This Season
SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran senior right-handed pitcher Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls) has been named Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Pitcher of the Week while sophomore outfielder Annie Kay (Sinton/Sinton) earned SCAC Hitter of the Week honors, announced by the conference on Monday.
The recognition from the SCAC marks the 18th time in program history and second time this season that the Texas Lutheran softball program earned both the league's top hitter and pitcher weekly honor in the same week.
Strother won all three of her starts, throwing the second perfect game of her career on March 22 and her third and fourth career individual no-hitters over the weekend. Strother would strike out 39 over the course of 17 innings of shutout work, including 13 out of 15 batters faced in her perfect game against Dallas on Friday. She allowed just two baserunners across her three outings, holding opponents to go just 1-for-52 (.019). Strother limited her opponents to just one hit and one walk on the week. Strother would become TLU Softball's all-time strikeout leader in her start against Southwestern on Monday, surpassing Cathy McBride''s previous record of 502 over the course of the 1994 through 1997 seasons. Strother reached the record in 456.2 innings while McBride's came over a career spanning a program record of 617.2 innings. Strother, who currently has 541 strikeouts, is seventh amongst active Division-III pitchers in career strikeouts and ranks fourth in SCAC history in the category. The shutout also marked the 28th of her career, ranking second amongst active Division-III pitchers.
Kay went 9-for-14 (.643) with four runs driven in over the course of five games for the Bulldogs. The sophomore slashed .643/.667/.643 for a 1.310 OPS, scoring seven runs and drawing one walk in her 15 plate appearances. She produced four multi-hit games while reaching in each of TLU's five contests. Kay would also steal seven bases on the week, moving her into the top ten in the SCAC in the category.
Annie Kay earns her first career SCAC Weekly honor while Strother earns her 15th career SCAC Weekly honor.
For the first time in nearly two months, the Bulldogs return to Ed Kruse Stadium on Tuesday to begin a five-game homestand starting with a Tuesday non-conference doubleheader against Texas A&M-San Antonio. First pitch is scheduled for 5 & 7 PM. All games will be streamed on TLU's YouTube Channel, TLU+. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.
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