No. 5 Bulldogs Advance to SCAC Championship Game

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- The 5th-ranked and conference No. 1 seed Texas Lutheran softball team advanced to Sunday's Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Championship Game with a pair of wins in the loser's bracket Saturday night at Trinity Softball Field in San Antonio. After defeating Schreiner 12-0 Saturday morning, the Bulldogs defeated four-seed Centenary 8-0 in six innings before immediately defeating host and No. 5 seed Trinity, 7-1, to complete their three win day in San Antonio.

With the three wins, Texas Lutheran became just the second team in SCAC Softball Championship history to lose its opening round game and then win three games in one day to then advance to the tournament final, joining the 2009 Rhodes team that first accomplished the feat. Also with the wins, Texas Lutheran advances to its ninth-straight (2014-2019, 2021-2023) SCAC Championship game.

In the opening 8-0 win in six innings vs. Centenary (18-24), Texas Lutheran was sparked by a 4-for-4 performance from Linzee Leal (Corpus Christi/Mary Carroll) that saw the all-conference shortstop score three times and drive in a run and a 3-for-3, two-RBI outing from Madison Johnson (Round Rock/Round Rock), that included an RBI triple.

The Bulldogs struck first in the first inning courtesy of a two-RBI single up the middle from senior Bailey Hudgeons (Dripping Springs/Dripping Springs) that plated Leal and Johnson after back-to-back singles from the pair. In the third, Johnson ripped an RBI single that scored Leal from second.

After scoring twice early, Leal drove in a run in the fourth with an RBI single that plated Isabella Rodriguez (Pearland/Pearland). Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek) would score on a wild pitch as TLU led 5-0 through four innings.

In the bottom of the fifth, Riley Futrell (Florence/Florence) would score on a throwing error by the Ladies catcher to extend the lead to 6-0 and border on run-rule territory.

In the bottom of the sixth, Madison Johnson ripped an RBI triple to right field to score Leal before Serena Gonzalez (Corpus Christi/Foy H. Moody) singled up the middle to score Johnson to walk it off.

In the circle, Amanda White (Lockhart/Lockhart) threw 4.2 scoreless innings to collect the win, her 13th of the season, striking out three, walking two, and allowing just two hits. Senior Sydney Ouellette (Corpus Christi/Gregory-Portland) threw a perfect final 1.1 innings, not allowing a hit or walk.

The second game of Saturday's nightcap and Texas Lutheran 's third game of the day saw the Bulldogs beat Trinity (15-28) 7-1 to advance to the 2023 SCAC Championship. After earning their 17th and 18th run-rule victories in Saturday's first two games, the Tigers took the Bulldogs the full seven innings Saturday night in a game that pushed past 11 PM in San Antonio. The Tigers clawed one run out of the rematch of Friday's upset but that was all senior pitcher Ashlyn Strother (17-2) (Seabrook/Clear Falls) would allow. Strother would allow just one walk and two hits and one run on an inside-the-park home run in five innings pitched. Sydney Ouellette made her third appearance of the day, allowing one hit in two innings of work to close the game. Junior Madison Johnson continued her tear at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

The highlight of the third game was a career-day from freshman outfielder Harleigh Russell (Fort Worth/Boswell) who went 1-for-1 with a triple, two runs scored, and three RBI.

Texas Lutheran would fall behind 1-0 in the second inning following the inside-the-park home run down the right field line.

After a scoreless first, TLU plated three runs on three hits in the second inning. Following a leadoff walk to Bailey Hudgeons, Harleigh Russell would pinch run for the senior and advance to third on a passed ball and wild pitch. After Russell advanced to third, Kylee Jack (Richwood/Brazoswood) ripped an RBI single to right field to score one before Caelee Clark would lace a two-out RBI single to second base to score Jack. Isabella Rodriguez (Pearland/Pearland) concluded the frame's scoring by scoring amidst a rundown that would ultimately result in an out for Clark.

Texas Lutheran pushed across runs in the third and fifth innings. A Harleigh Russell sacrifice fly would extend the Bulldog lead to 4-1 in the third inning. A one-out two RBI triple from Russell and the fifth inning plated Leal and Johnson to stretch the TLU lead to 6-1. With the three RBIs, Russell matched her career-high established earlier this season against Schreiner. Missy Muras (La Grange/La Grange) brought in TLU's seventh run on an RBI groundout, scoring Russell.

Texas Lutheran has outscored teams 27-2 so far in the 2023 SCAC Tournament.

The Bulldogs meet two-seed St. Thomas in the 2023 SCAC Championship game slated for 1 PM on Sunday at Trinity Softball Field. Texas Lutheran will have to beat the Celts twice, if the "if necessary" game is forced, it is scheduled for 3:30 PM. The game can be seen on Trinity's Tiger Network on YouTube with Reed Rosales on the call. All streaming and stat links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.

Texas Lutheran is going for its ninth consecutive SCAC Championship win. The title would be TLU's 18th SCAC title in program history.

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).