Bulldogs Clinch Schreiner Series with Pair of Run-Rule Shutouts

SEGUIN, Texas -- The No. 6 Texas Lutheran softball team swept through their Saturday afternoon doubleheader with Schreiner, beating the Mountaineers by a combined score of 16-0 in 10 innings.

The Bulldogs pitching staff was dominant, tossing a pair of shutouts and allowing just seven hits on the day to go with seven strikeouts.

The Bulldogs pushed their win streak to 14 straight games and won their 73rd straight SCAC conference series, dating back to joining the conference in 2014.

In the opening 8-0 win in five innings, Texas Lutheran was sparked by a 3-for-4, three-RBI, three-stolen base day from Annie Kay (Sinton/Sinton) and a two-RBI performance from Faith Hernandez (Dinuba, CA/Dinuba).

The Bulldogs struck in the third inning courtesy of a first and third that led to Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek) scoring and a bases loaded walk to Tavery Ortiz (Texas City/Texas City). In the fourth, Kay ripped a two-RBI single that scored Clark and Linzee Leal (Corpus Christi/Mary Carroll) before a double-steal led to Kay scoring on a Schreiner error. A two-RBI single from Hernandez extended the TLU lead to 7-0 and capped the scoring in the inning.

Annie Kay would walk it off in the fifth with an RBI single to end the game in five innings.

Texas Lutheran would steal 10 bases in the game led by three each from Clark and Kay. This is the 16th-time in program history the Bulldogs have stolen double-digit bases in a single game.

In the circle, senior Amanda White (Lockhart/Lockhart), last week's SCAC Pitcher of the Week, threw a complete game to collect the win, her 16th of the season, striking out four, walking two and allowing just three hits.

The second game of the day saw the Bulldogs beat the Mountaineers by an identical score of 8-0 in run-rule fashion. Serena Gonzalez (Corpus Christi/Foy H. Moody) continued her impressive season with her eighth homer and the 19th of her career.

After Ainsley Davis (Rockwall/Jesuit (OR)) stranded two runners in scoring position in the top of the first, Texas Lutheran plated a run in the bottom half of the inning by way of an RBI single from Gonzalez.

The Bulldogs scored a pair of runs on a two-run blast from Gonzalez in the third. Chesley Swisher (Cypress/Bridgeland) added another run in the third following a Schreiner miscue.

Gonzalez struck again in the fourth with another RBI single to extend the Bulldogs lead to 5-0.

The Bulldogs plated two runs in the fifth to walk it off on one hit and two Mountaineer errors. After a leadoff single from Faith Hernandez and a sac bunt from Tavery Ortiz, Hanna Homra (Troy, TN/Obion County) scored following a Schreiner fielding error. A bunt single from Linzee Leal turned into a two-run little league home run as Leal would touch them all following a throwing error to end the game.

Davis earned her sixth win of the season (6-1), pitching a complete game shutout and striking out three to go with four hits and no walks.

The TLU pitching staff has shut out opponents in 14 games this season, ranking in the top five in Division-III. The two run-rule wins Saturday made it 12 mercy-rule victories this season for TLU.

The series finale is scheduled for 1 PM on Sunday, April 13, with a JV game scheduled to follow immediately after and can be seen on TLU+. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.

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).