Bulldogs Headline SCAC 30th Anniversary Softball Team with 11 Members

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA -- The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference announced their 30th Anniversary softball team Thursday afternoon with the Texas Lutheran Softball headlining the team with 11 total members selected for the star-studded group. The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference announced 30th Anniversary teams in 19 sports throughout the 2020-21 academic year. The league selected 15th Anniversary teams during the 2005-06 academic year – those selections can be found here.

The SCAC's 30th Anniversary teams were selected by present coaches, administrators and/or conference office personnel. Athletes who participated in conference competition between the fall of 2005 through the spring of 2020 and had been named to at least two All-SCAC teams and/or were a selected as a Player-of-the-Year in their respective sport were eligible for selection.

Among current members, Texas Lutheran, which has won seven-straight SCAC titles, posted a remarkable 152-3 (.981) conference record and won the 2019 Division III NCAA Championship since joining the league prior to the 2013-14 academic year.

Three-time SCAC Pitcher of the Year Taylor Grissom (Spring/Klein Collins) and two-time SCAC Pitcher of the Year Maitlin Raycroft (Spring/Klein) made for two members of the six-player pitching staff.

Grissom was part of the successful foundation TLU established, playing her final three collegiate years in the SCAC after the Bulldogs joined the league prior to the 2014 season. The 2014, 2015 and 2016 SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year, Grissom is the last hurler to lead the conference in earned run average in back-to-back seasons, accomplishing the feat in 2014 (1.31) and 2015 (0.77). She finished her career with a 1.09 ERA, good enough for third all-time in the SCAC, allowing just 46 earned runs in 294.1 innings pitched. One of just three pitchers in league history to win POTY three times in a career, Grissom concluded her time in Seguin with a 45-6 record in the circle. Her .882 winning percentage remains the third-best all-time in SCAC history. 

The 2017 and 2018 SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year, Raycroft was one of the more dominant strikeout pitchers in conference history, recording what remains an SCAC career record 10.18 strikeouts per seven innings. She is the only pitcher in league history to average double-digit strikeouts per seven innings with over 150 career innings pitched. In 2017, Raycroft became just the second pitcher in conference history to win both Newcomer and Pitcher-of-the-Year honors in the same season after she led the SCAC in wins (21), ERA (1.29), strikeouts (219) and opponents' batting average (.128). It marked just the second time in league history a pitcher has led the conference in each of those statistical categories in the same season. Her opponents' batting average of .128 in 2017 still holds as the best mark in conference history and her 219 strikeouts that season represent the second most in a single season in league history. She is one of just two pitchers in league history to reach the 200-strikeout plateau in a single season. Her 10.90 strikeouts per seven innings that year remains the conference single season record. On three different occasions, TLU's Raycroft rang up 15 or more strikeouts in a single game including the career-high 18 she rung up in a win over Huntingdon on February 19, 2017. In just two seasons, Raycroft posted a remarkable 41-4 record for an SCAC best .911 career winning percentage. A Second Team All-American in both 2017 and 2018, Raycroft finished her career with a 1.26 ERA (sixth lowest in SCAC history), allowing just 46 earned runs in 255 innings pitched. 

Moving to positional players, three former SCAC Players-of-the-Year earned 30th anniversary recognition at catcher including Texas Lutheran University's Jennifer Gallagher (Missouri City/Elkins).

A two-time First Team All-SCAC selection, Gallagher was named SCAC Player-of-the-Year as a junior in 2015 after earning the league's batting title with a .431 average. That season she became just the second player in SCAC history to lead the league in batting average, doubles (16) and RBI (45) and remains one of just four athletes in conference history to accomplish that feat. Gallagher is top-10 in SCAC history in both doubles per game (seventh – 0.31) and RBIs per game (ninth – 0.93) after finishing her career at TLU with 37 doubles and 108 RBIs. She was a three-time all-tournament selection and finished her career as a .381 hitter with back-to-back 50 plus hit seasons as a junior and senior.

Former SCAC Player of the Year Taylor Yancey (Magnolia/Magnolia West) earned recognition at first base. Yancey, a three-time All-SCAC performer including First Team accolades in 2014 and 2016, was named the league's Player-of-the-Year as a senior in 2016. That season she became just the second player in league history to lead the SCAC in batting average (.476), hits (69), doubles (25) and RBIs (54). Her 25 doubles remain the most in a single season in conference history, and she is the only player in league history to lead the SCAC in doubles and RBIs during two separate seasons (2014 and 2016). A career .377 hitter with 152 hits and 117 RBIs, Yancey is tied for the most doubles in league history with 53 and is second all-time in doubles per game (0.40) and 10th in RBIs per game (0.89). A two-time all-tournament selection, Yancey capped off her career with a Third Team All-American selection in 2016. 

Ashley Jacobsen (Marion/Marion) and Madisyn Cates (Baytown/Sterling) took two out of three spots at second base.

Jacobsen, who played just two years in the league after TLU joined the conference prior to the 2013-14 academic year, was a two-time First Team selection, earning SCAC Player-of-the-Year honors as a junior in 2014 when she batted a league-best .463 with 69 hits, 43 runs scored and 34 RBIs. Her 69 hits that season led the league and is still tied for the third-most hits in a single season in SCAC history. Jacobsen posted back-to-back 50-plus hit seasons and finished her career with a .421 batting average, fourth best in league history.

A three-time First Team All-SCAC selection (2017-2019), Cates finished her career as a .387 hitter, good for 22nd all-time in SCAC history. As a key member of the 2019 Texas Lutheran National Championship team, she posted career-highs that season in hits (49), RBIs (33), runs (29), doubles (13) and stolen bases (7). Despite a shortened senior season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cates finished her career with 148 hits, 93 RBIs, 28 doubles, 18 stolen bases with a .452 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage. 

Grace Estes (Willis/Willis) held the honor at shortstop. A three-time First Team All-SCAC selection from 2014-2016, Estes is one of just two players in league history to earn three First Team honors at shortstop. Estes is seventh all-time in SCAC history with 139 runs scored and is one of just four players in history to lead the league in runs scored in back-to-back seasons, doing so in 2015 and 2016. As a junior she led the SCAC in walks taken with 22 and is currently in the top-10 all-time in both walks drawn (65 – eighth) and walks per game (0.50 – 10th). Estes piled up 149 hits, 73 RBIs, 47 stolen bases and 20 doubles in just three SCAC seasons and finished her career 25th all-time with a .384 batting average. 

Kyla Lockley (Wharton/Boling) earned the honor for the Bulldogs at third base. Despite playing just two seasons in the SCAC, Lockley made a major impact, earning First Team All-SCAC honors in both 2017 and 2018. A threat on the base paths, Lockley is sixth all-time in SCAC history with 72 stolen bases and her 0.87 stolen bases per game average is second best in league history. She scored 89 runs in just 83 career games, averaging 1.07 runs per game which still holds as the third best mark in league history. A career .393 hitter (16th best in SCAC history), Lockley finished her time in Seguin with 100 hits, 48 RBIs, 20 doubles, six home runs, a .468 on-base percentage and a .551 slugging percentage. 

Nine outfielders were selected to the 30th anniversary squad, including 2021 Player of the Year Kelly Jurden (Brenham/Brenham) and 2017 Co-Player of the Year Kaymee Gooden (Mart/Mart).

With the release of the 2021 All-SCAC team, Kelly Jurden became the first athlete in softball history to earn Player-of-the-Year accolades in consecutive seasons, having also taken home the honor in 2019 prior to the shortened pandemic season. The 2019 SCAC batting champion (.458), Jurden is the only player in league history to lead the conference in three consecutive seasons in hits, stolen bases and runs scored. Currently second all-time with 202 hits, she is one of just three players in SCAC history to break the 200-hit plateau and is just 10 hits shy of becoming the conference's all-time leader in hits. She is also the league's all-time leader in runs scored (180) and stolen bases (169) and currently holds the top mark for runs per game (1.19) and stolen bases per game (1.21). In 2019, on her way to helping guide TLU to its first ever softball National Championship, she led the entire country with 61 stolen bases, the most ever in a single SCAC season. She has amassed 78 walks in her career, just six shy of becoming the all-time leader in that category, and she is currently third all-time with a .431 batting average. Just the third player in SCAC history to earn multiple All-American honors, Jurden was named First Team as a junior in 2021.

Gooden was the league's Co-Player-of-the-Year in 2017 after tying for the conference lead in RBIs (38), home runs (8) and triples (6), while batting .380 with 49 hits and slugging an outstanding .729. She played just two years in the SCAC but earned First Team honors in both seasons as a junior and a senior and finished her career at TLU as a .371 hitter with 96 hits, 81 RBIs, 75 runs scored, 17 doubles and 13 home runs. Her 60 stolen bases are the 10th most in SCAC history and her 0.65 stolen bases per game average is fifth all-time. A two-time All-Tournament honoree and SCAC champion, Gooden helped TLU post a remarkable 45-1 record in league play during her two seasons in Seguin. 

Three former student-athletes earned recognition at the Designated Player/Utility position - including former Bulldog Nicole Snow (Tomball/Klein Oak).

A First Team All-SCAC performer in both 2016 and 2017, Nicole Snow earned the final spot on the All-Anniversary Team at the designated player position. Snow slugged a remarkable .602 during her career in Seguin, accounting for 125 hits, including 51 during her junior season. As a senior she finished tied for the SCAC lead with 38 RBI and led the league with 23 walks. Snow finished her career with a .374 batting average, a .455 on-base percentage and 112 RBIs, 32 doubles, 14 stolen bases, 10 home runs and seven triples.

The SCAC was formed in 1991 after a reorganization of its predecessor, the College Athletic Conference (CAC). The CAC dates to 1962 with four charter members: Centre College, Southwestern @ Memphis (now Rhodes College), Sewanee-The University of the South, and Washington & Lee (Va.) University. Washington (Mo.) University joined the CAC later that same year.

The SCAC was formed to provide an association through which the member institutions may encourage organized competition in intercollegiate sports among teams representative of their respective student bodies. Members of this conference share a commitment to priority of the overall quality of academic standards and quality educational experiences.

The SCAC's full release can be read here.