Bulldogs and Blazers Set For Supers

SUPER REGIONAL STORYLINES

• No. 2 Texas Lutheran (41-4, 21-0 SCAC) continues their quest for a second national title as it hosts No. 5 Belhaven at Ed Kruse Stadium for the NCAA Seguin, Texas Super Regional.
• The Bulldogs are aiming for their third consecutive NCAA Division-III Softball Championships appearance.
• The best-of-three series begins Friday at 7 PM CST. Saturday's contest is scheduled for a 5 PM first pitch, if necessary, the third game will be played immediately after with a tentative first pitch time of 7:30 PM.
• All games will be broadcast on the TLU Athletics streaming portal.
• Saturday's action can be heard on KWED 1580 AM with Mike McBride on the call for fans in the Guadalupe County area.
• Tickets will be available at Ed Kruse Stadium. Tickets will be $10 for adults, $5 for students, senior citizens (65 and older), and spectators under the age of 18 - children two and under are free per day.
• All tournament information can be found in the Seguin Tournament Central.

MAYHEM

• Texas Lutheran has made the NCAA Tournament eight straight seasons overall and every season since joining the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC)
• Texas Lutheran is making its second appearance in the Super Regionals - making each of the last two.
• This is the first time in program history that TLU hosts Supers. TLU is 2-1 all-time in Super Regionals.
• With two wins in the Super Regional, the Bulldogs would make their third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division-III Women's College World Series.
• Last season, TLU reached its second Division-III Women's College World Series in program history, culminating in a runner-up finish in the championship series.

LAST TIME OUT

• The top-seeded Bulldogs swept through the NCAA Seguin, Texas Regional last weekend at Ed Kruse Stadium against Chapman University.
• Texas Lutheran outscored the Panthers 30-4 in the three-game sweep and out-hit them 33-17.
• In Friday's opener, the Bulldogs beat Chapman 9-1 in five innings for their 13th run-rule victory of the season. Sophomore Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls) became the single-season wins leader with her 23rd win of the season.
• Saturday's action saw the Bulldogs pick up their 14th run-rule victory, including an 11-run inning in game one, and their 21st shutout of the season, making for second in all of Division-III.

A LOOK AT THE BLAZERS

• The No. 5 Belhaven Blazers are led by head coach Kevin Griffin in his 12th season at the helm in Jackson, Mississippi. Griffin is the program's all-time winningest coach - leading the Blazers to their first ever NCAA Regional in 2021 and to five NAIA national tournaments and two NCCAA World Series.
• The Blazers are 41-6 on the year and finished atop the American Southwest Conference (ASC) standings with a 26-4 mark - winning their first ASC Championship in 2022.
• Belhaven is paced by sophomores Kennedy Carruth and Allie Gordon as well as freshman Ellie Jones - all finalists for Schutt Sports/NFCA Player and Pitcher of the Year alongside TLU's Kelly Jurden (Brenham/Brenham) and Ashlyn Strother.
• Gordon, a 2019 NCCAA First Team All-American and 2022 NFCA All-West Region selection, was named the 2022 ASC Player of the Year. Bates is batting .392 in her sophomore season with 10 HRs and 48 RBIs. She holds a .939 fielding percentage as a corner infielder.
• Fellow sophomore Kennedy Carruth, a 2021 NFCA All-American and 2022 All-West Region honoree, has collected her second consecutive season with over 185+ strikeouts. She has totaled 220 strikeouts on the season - ranking 10th in all of Division-III. She holds a 1.12 ERA in 174.2 innings pitched with just 60 walks. Carruth will not only face a top-30 scoring offense in Texas Lutheran but will matchup with one of the premier pitching staffs in the country.
• History with the Blazers: This is a first-time matchup for the Bulldogs and Blazers. The Blazers are 9-2 against shared opponents this season.

RECORD BREAKERS & CHASERS

• The Bulldogs broke the program record for most consecutive conference wins with their current streak sitting at 62 dating back to the 2019 season.
• The Bulldogs broke the program record for stolen bases in a season in the SCAC Championship against Trinity, stealing base No.  196 in Irving, Texas, and have since brought their season total to 209, soaring past the 2019 team's previous record of 195. The 2021 squad hit the program mark in six less games. The Bulldogs are 15 stolen bases away from matching the NCAA Division-III single season record for stolen bases in a season set by The College of New Jersey in 1995 (224 stolen bases in 54 games).
• Senior Casey Martin is 10 hits shy of the single season hits record (69) set by Ashley Jacobsen in 2013.
• Senior Kelly Jurden is three walks shy of matching her single season record of 30 walks in a season.
• As a team, Texas Lutheran is four walks away from matching the 2019 team's record of 159 walks in a season.
• With two wins this weekend, Texas Lutheran will match the single-season wins record (43) set by the 2016 squad.
• Ashlyn Strother's current ERA of 0.63 would surpass the previous program record for lowest ERA in a season set by Taylor Grissom in 2015 (0.77 ERA).

BULLDOG PARTY

• Defensively, Texas Lutheran is in the top two in: Walks and Hits Per Inning Pitched (WHIP) (1st, .88), Earned Run Average (2nd, 1.14 ERA), Fielding Percentage (2nd, .979), shutouts (2nd, 21 shutouts)
• Texas Lutheran leads the country, regardless of division, in stolen bases with 203 on the season.
• TLU is outscoring opponents 310-61 on the season, scoring an average of 6.89 runs per game to opponents 1.36 clip.
• TLU has won by run-rule in 14 of its 45 games.
• Eight Bulldogs have hit a home run this season, with five blasting at least two.
• Texas Lutheran owns two of the top 10 ERAs in the country:
  • 1st - Ashlyn Strother (0.63)
  • 9th - Sydney Ouellette (0.95)
• Kelly Jurden ranks second in the country in stolen bases with 66 on the season.
• The Texas Lutheran defense ranks first in the country out of teams that have played at least 35 games with a .979 fielding percentage and have committed just 27 errors in 878 opportunities.
• TLU's pitching staff is second in the country with 21 strikeouts and 1.14 ERA.

JURDEN, STROTHER TWO OF 25 DIVISION-III PLAYER AND PITCHER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS

• Kelly Jurden and Ashlyn Strother were named 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division-III Player and Pitcher of the Year Top 25 Finalists, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced on May 10th.
• Jurden, the NCAA Division-III All-Time Stolen Base leader and 2022 First Team All-SCAC and First Team All-West Region selection, makes her third appearance as a finalist with another season for the record books. Jurden broke the NCAA career stolen bases record in early March at Ed Kruse Stadium, stealing base No. 196 vs. Austin College. The Brenham, Texas, product now has 235 career stolen bases and currently sits in second place nationally with 66 stolen bases on the season to go with 22 RBIs and a .371 batting average. She ranked first in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) in stolen bases and walks (27) - tying for eighth nationally in walks. This season, Jurden has also set the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference all-time hits (251) and walks (105) records, the TLU all-time at-bats (600), walks (105) and runs scored (227) records in addition to the TLU and SCAC single-season stolen base record - breaking her previous record of 61 stolen bases in 2019.
• The 2022 SCAC Pitcher of the Year, Strother, also a First Team All-West Region selection, has taken Division-III softball by storm. In 133.1 innings pitched, Strother has a 0.63 ERA with 187 strikeouts to 19 walks. Her earned run average ranks first in the country while her strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.84) ranks tenth. She has allowed just 12 earned runs on the season (15 runs total) and is allowing opponents to bat just .158. Strother has allowed 12 extra base hits, with only four being home runs. The Seabrook, Texas, product has one no-hitter on the season - tossing a no-hitter against Austin College on March 19. Strother has nine double-digit strikeout performances, including a career-high 15 vs. Southwestern on March 25 and 14-K's in her no-hitter against Austin College. Additionally, her 23 wins are the most in a single-season in TLU softball history.

STROTHER, OUELLETTE, WHITE LEAD DOMINANT PITCHING STAFF

• The, at-times, four-deep pitching staff has put together a solid season, pitching shutouts in 21 of TLU's 45 games.
• Ashlyn Strother tossed the staff's lone no-hitter against Austin College on March 19.
• The staff has allowed two hits or less in 12 games this season.
• The staff holds a 1.14 ERA, good for 2nd in the country, and has allowed 61 runs in 45 games to go with 277 strikeouts and 214 hits allowed to 45 walks.
• SCAC Pitcher of the Year and NFCA First Team All-Region selection, sophomore Ashlyn Strother leads the staff with a 0.63 ERA and 187 strikeouts to go with 23 wins and no losses. Opponents are batting just .158 against the Seabrook, Texas, native. In conference play, Strother posted a 0.22 ERA with 98 strikeouts to 7 walks while opponents batted .094 against her.
• Sydney Ouellette, another All-Region honoree for TLU, has a 0.95 ERA in 100.1 innings of work to go with 10 wins, three saves, and three losses. In conference play, Ouellette was 6-0 with a 0.15 ERA to go with 24 strikeouts and just four walks. Opponents are batting .213 against Ouellette.
• Junior Amanda White has impressed in her return to the Bulldogs after a year away, collecting eight wins to one loss - striking out 36 in 50.2 innings pitched. White holds a 1.52 ERA and struck out 21 in conference play to just five walks.
• Sophomore Madison Johnson (3.0) has also seen action in the circle for the Bulldogs.

SIX BULLDOGS EARN ALL-REGION HONORS

• The No. 2 Texas Lutheran softball team placed six nominees on the 2022 NFCA Division-III All-West Region Team, the NFCA announced on Monday.
• Senior Kelly Jurden (Brenham/Brenham), senior Sarah Metzer (Sugar Land/Dulles), and sophomore Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls) were all selected for the All-Region First Team. Senior Casey Martin (Pearland/Pearland) and sophomore Sydney Ouellette (Corpus Christi/Gregory-Portland) received All-Region Second Team honors while freshman Faith Hernandez (Dinuba, Calif./Dinuba) earned Third Team All-Region honors.

• Six All-Region selections tied for second most in the country with East Texas Baptist (Region X), Endicott (II), Johnson & Wales (I), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (II).

• The 2022 NFCA Division-III All-America teams will be announced on Tuesday, May 24.

CONFERENCE DOMINANCE

• The No. 2 Bulldogs finished the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) regular season 21-0 - sweeping through the regular season.

• The Bulldogs have won 62 straight SCAC games dating back to 2019.

• The Bulldogs have won 51 straight SCAC series (51-0) - dating back to their entry into the conference in 2014.

• TLU has finished first in the SCAC over the past eight full seasons with a combined record of 173-3. Prior to TLU's current run of eight straight regular season titles, the longest streak was four consecutive title wins from Trinity (1999-2002).
• Overall, the Bulldogs have 16 SCAC titles with eight regular season crowns and eight tournament championships, all under head coach Wade Wilson.

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).