No. 4 Bulldogs Sweep Hanover College

SEGUIN, Texas -- The No. 4 Texas Lutheran softball team swept two games against Hanover College at Ed Kruse Stadium on Thursday as the Bulldogs continued their non-conference slate.

TLU started the day with a 2-0 shutout of the Panthers powered by a shutout performance from pitcher Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls). The senior struck out seven in a complete-game, three-hit performance. With the win, Strother collects her second shutout of the season, moving to 4-0, and records her 50th career win. With the seven strikeouts, Strother moves into third in program history in the category - surpassing Maitlin Raycroft (371 strikeouts) - with a new career tally of 375 strikeouts.

Offensively, Bailey Hudgeons (Dripping Springs/Dripping Springs) chipped in with an RBI groundout to get TLU on the board in the first inning. Sophomore Kylee Jack (Richwood/Brazoswood) doubled the Bulldogs lead in the bottom of the third inning with a solo home run - her first of the season.

Texas Lutheran collected its third run-rule victory of the season in game two, beating the Panthers, 15-3, in game two.

Reagan Hillis (Cedar Park/Cedar Park) batted in a team-high three runs and Serena Gonzalez (Corpus Christi/Foy H. Moody) and Kirsten Williams (Pearland/Glenda Dawson) drove in two each. Eight Bulldogs finished with at least one RBI on Thursday (Hillis, Gonzalez, Williams, Madison Johnson (Round Rock/Round Rock), Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek), Bailey Hudgeons, Isabella Rodriguez (Pearland/Pearland), and Harleigh Russell (Fort Worth/Boswell). Gonzalez, Hillis, Hudgeons, and Johnson all went 2-for-2 in game two. 

Texas Lutheran exploded for 14 runs, making two full trips through the lineup, in the opening inning of game two and never looked back.

Senior Amanda White (Lockhart/Lockhart), who operated with plenty of run support, kept the Panthers at-bay - only allowing one hit in two innings of work. Sydney Ouellette (Corpus Christi/Gregory-Portland) relieved White in the third, allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits. Freshmen closed the game out for the Bulldogs as freshman Jaelin Ornelas (Amarillo/Caprock) and Katelyn Howard (Waller/Hempstead) made their collegiate debuts in the circle in the fourth and fifth innings. Both would allow one hit each but escape with scoreless innings in their debuts with Howard recording her first collegiate strikeout to end the game.

The Bulldogs host No. 25 Piedmont for a mid-week doubleheader on Wednesday, March 8, before opening SCAC conference play next weekend against Schreiner in Seguin. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.

For more information on Texas Lutheran softball, follow the Bulldogs on Facebook (@txlutheransoftball), 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).