Strother Makes History in Bulldogs' Sweep

SEGUIN, Texas -- Senior pitcher Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls) already held numerous school, SCAC, and NCAA records in her illustrious career with the Bulldogs, but she added to her stellar resume on Saturday by becoming the winningest pitcher in the history of Texas Lutheran softball.

Strother earned career win No. 59, passing former Bulldog Amanda Stevens (2002-05), as No. 4 Texas Lutheran (27-3, 11-1 SCAC) finished off a three-game sweep of Southwestern (13-18, 6-6 SCAC) with a 12-0, five-inning run-rule victory. Strother's career record now stands at 59-2, while her season mark is 13-0.

Queen of the circle. ��

Your NEW All-Time wins leader in program history �� #TooLiveU | #PupsUp pic.twitter.com/WkCN8JqFso

— TLU Softball �� (@TLUsoftball) April 9, 2023

Perfect through three innings against the Pirates, Strother only allowed two hits in the game while striking out eight. It's her seventh shutout this season and 22nd of her career.

In addition to the wins record, Strother boasts the top school marks in win percentage (.967), ERA (0.77, 2022), single season wins (25, 2022), and single season win-loss percentage (1.000, 2022).

The Bulldogs beat the Pirates by a combined score of 24-4 in the final two games of the series. With the series sweep, TLU has not lost a conference series since joining the conference in 2014, and have won 76 of its last 78 SCAC regular season games.

The Bulldogs were powered by a five RBI showing from freshman Serena Gonzalez (Corpus Christi/Foy H. Moody) and the eight strikeout performance from Strother.

Bailey Hudgeons (Dripping Springs/Dripping Springs) put the Bulldogs up early with a RBI double to left field, scoring Madison Johnson (Round Rock/Round Rock) in the first.

In the second inning, an Annie Kay (Sinton/Sinton) sacrifice fly would score Reagan Hillis (Cedar Park/Cedar Park) to give TLU a 2-0 lead. Three consecutive walks would load the bases and set the stage for a Serena Gonzalez grand slam - breaking the game open to a 6-0 lead for TLU. The grand slam was the first of Gonzalez's career and her SCAC leading eighth home run of the season, bringing her within one of Haley Padilla's freshman record set in 2018.

After her record breaking performance in game two of the series, Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek) would plate a run in the bottom of the third to extend the Bulldogs lead to 7-0.

The fourth inning saw five more Bulldog runs cross as the Bulldogs scored in every inning. An RBI double from Gonzalez would score Madison Johnson to put the run-rule into effect as TLU took an 8-0 lead. Harleigh Russell (Fort Worth/Boswell) would score on a Southwestern throwing error before Reagan Jones (Pearland/Friendswood) would drive in Bailey Hudgeons with an RBI single. Riley Futrell (Florence/Florence), who pinch ran for Jones, would steal second as part of a double steal that would score Reagan Hillis before scoring on an RBI single from Caelee Clark for the Bulldogs final run of the game.

TLU improved to 27-3 on the year with 12 run-rule victories. The Bulldogs offense has outscored opponents 215-43 while the pitching staff has tossed an NCAA Division-III leading 16 shutouts and struck out 159 batters, allowing opponents to bat just .190 on the year.

The Bulldogs turn their attention to a three-game series against the Trinity Tigers at the newly renovated Trinity Softball Field in San Antonio on April 14-15. First pitch for Friday's first game is scheduled for 5 PM. 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).