White Shines as TLU Sweeps No. 20 Babson

SEGUIN, Texas -- No. 4 Texas Lutheran collected its first two Top-25 wins of the 2023 season on Saturday - sweeping No. 20 Babson at Ed Kruse Stadium with 7-3 and 5-1 victories over the Beavers.

In a pitching matchup that received preseason hype from FloSoftball.com, it was Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls) who came out victorious, earning her third win of the season, pitching 5.0 innings and surrendering three runs on seven hits and one walk to go with six strikeouts. Senior Amanda White (Lockhart/Lockhart), who proved to be a difference-maker for the Bulldogs on Saturday, entered in relief in the sixth and pitched two scoreless innings, allowing two hits to go with a strikeout to earn the save, the first of her career.

Kloee Wells (Dayton/Dayton) got the scoring started for the Bulldogs with an RBI single that scored Kirsten Williams (Pearland/Glenda Dawson). An infield single from Linzee Leal (Corpus Christi/Mary Carroll) would score Wells to give TLU an early 2-0 lead in the second inning.

After a mostly dormant start offensively, Babson would answer with three runs in the top of the fifth to take a 3-2 lead.

TLU responded with three runs of their own, taking advantage of mistakes from the Beavers defense. An RBI single from Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek) would start the Bulldogs rally tying the game 3-3. Bailey Hudgeons (Dripping Springs/Dripping Springs) would record her fourth RBI of the weekend with an RBI single to score Clark. Hudgeons would score following a dropped fly ball from the Babson center fielder.

TLU would add two insurance runs in the sixth following another error from Babson to bring the game to its final score of 7-3.

Following her effort in relief, Amanda White would take center stage in game two, allowing just one unearned run on four hits in six innings to earn her second win of the season. In total, White allowed one run (unearned) on six hits between the two games on Saturday. Sydney Ouellette (Corpus Christi/Gregory-Portland) tossed a spotless seventh inning in relief to close the game.

On the offensive side, the middle of the Bulldogs lineup stepped up. TLU scored three runs in the first with RBI from Madison Johnson (Round Rock/Round Rock), Laura Hernandez (Missouri City/Ridge Point), and Reagan Hillis (Cedar Park/Cedar Park).

The Bulldogs would add two more runs in the second inning as Johnson and Bailey Hudgeons would drive in runs to bring the score to 5-0. The Beavers would score one run in the top of the third, but that would be all the 20th-ranked Beavers could muster against the Bulldogs pitching staff.

TLU moves to 6-2 on the year and has outscored opponents 59-20.

Texas Lutheran continues its homestand on Thursday as the Panthers of Hanover College travel to Seguin for a mid-week doubleheader at Ed Kruse Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 4 & 6 PM. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.