Bulldogs SCAC Preseason Favorites

SEGUIN, TX -- The seven-time defending Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) champion Texas Lutheran softball team has been voted by the league's head coaches as the 2022 preseason favorite. The conference announced the SCAC Preseason Poll Wednesday.

The Bulldogs received 63 points in this year's poll and were followed by St. Thomas with 54 and Trinity (TX) with 44. TLU received seven of the eight first-place voters with St. Thomas garnering the other. This marks the eighth straight year that Texas Lutheran has topped the conference's preseason poll.

Schreiner was selected fourth (40 points) and Southwestern fifth (35 points). Rounding out the poll was Centenary (24 points), Dallas (15 points), and Austin College (13 points).

The Bulldogs finished the SCAC regular season 18-0 in 2021 en route to their seventh consecutive conference regular season crown. The team won the postseason tournament for the seventh straight season in Kerrville, Texas, at the SCAC Softball Championship.

Texas Lutheran holds a combined SCAC record of 152-3 (.981) in seven-plus seasons. Overall, Texas Lutheran has won seven consecutive SCAC titles all under head coach Wade Wilson.

The 2022 team returns NFCA and CoSIDA First Team All-American, Schutt Sports/NFCA Division III Player of the Year finalist, and back-to-back SCAC Offensive Player of the Year outfielder Kelly Jurden (Brenham/Brenham) along with fellow All-American sophomore pitcher Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls).

TLU also welcomes back four NFCA All-Region players in catcher Sarah Metzer (Sugar Land/Dulles), utility/pitcher Chassety Raines (Spring/Klein Collins), pitcher Sydney Ouellette (Corpus Christi/Gregory-Portland), and second baseman Casey Martin (Pearland/Pearland). In total, the Bulldogs return eight all-conference selections from a season ago: the previously mentioned, Jurden, Strother, Metzer, Raines, Ouellette, and Martin as well as Laura Hernandez (Missouri City/Ridge Point) and Bailey Hudgeons (Dripping Springs/Dripping Springs).

Texas Lutheran will open with a home double-header against Whitworth University on February 12th. The 2022 schedule features 19 home games at Theos Morck Field at Ed Kruse Stadium, including three SCAC series in Seguin.

For more information on Texas Lutheran softball, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter and Instagram (@TLUsoftball) 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, @tlubulldogs on Instagram and Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on TikTok).