Texas Lutheran Named ATEC/NFCA Region X Coaching Staff of the Year

SEGUIN, Texas -- After leading Texas Lutheran to a 33-5 record, two SCAC titles and a tenth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs coaching staff has been named the ATEC/NFCA Region X (West) Coaching Staff of the Year, the NFCA announced on Wednesday.

Led by head coach Wade Wilson, Texas Lutheran captured its tenth straight SCAC regular season title and their ninth SCAC Tournament title in ten seasons. The Bulldogs won both crowns in the same season for the ninth time since joining in the conference in 2014.

The Bulldogs coaching staff consists of head coach, Wade Wilson, assistant coaches Kyla Lockley '18, Scott Smith, James Fuqua, and Ed Zarzabal, and volunteer assistants Jerry Miller and Sarah Metzer '22. It marks the fourth time in five seasons that Texas Lutheran has won the honor dating back to 2019.

Despite losing eight games to weather, Texas Lutheran won 30-plus games for the 11th straight season and made an NCAA Tournament Regional for the tenth straight season, all under head coach Wade Wilson. Under the coaches' tutelage, Texas Lutheran broke their own program and NCAA record with a nation-leading 233 stolen bases while ranking in the top ten nationally in fielding percentage (.977, 4th), on-base percentage (.436, 9th), and stolen bases per game (6.13, 1st).

In the 33-5 season, the Bulldogs would win 25 of their final 28 games, toss 13 shutouts, and win 11 games by run-rule. Additionally, Texas Lutheran would rank in the top 15 of the NFCA Division-II Poll over the entire 2024 season, ranking as high as number nine in the country. Texas Lutheran has been ranked in the NFCA Top 25 for 1,904 days and counting.

Second baseman Caelee Clark and pitcher Ashlyn Strother were each named NFCA First Team All-Americans, Annie Kay and Linzee Leal earned the first two Rawlings Gold Gloves in program history, and ten Bulldogs earned All-SCAC accolades in 2024.

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