Bulldogs Pace Conference in Yearly Awards
SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran softball collected two of the four SCAC yearly awards and placed eight across the All-SCAC First and Second Teams, including a league-best six on the first team while earning 11 All-SCAC selections in total. The conference announced the honors Friday.
Sophomore Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek) repeated as SCAC Player of the Year while senior Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls) earned her fourth consecutive Pitcher of the Year award.
Clark collects TLU's tenth consecutive SCAC Player of the Year award, winning the award every year since joining the conference in 2014. Clark is the third athlete in SCAC Softball history to win multiple Player-of-the-Year honors, joining former member, DePauw University's Rachel Gill (2007, 2009) and former Bulldog Kelly Jurden (2019, 2021). She joins Jurden as the only other athlete to win the award in back-to-back seasons.
The highlight-reel second baseman has started every game for No. 12 TLU and led the team throughout the season in batting average, hits, runs, triples, and stolen bases. The speedster has stolen an NCAA record 78 bases on 80 attempts and been exceptional at second base for TLU, turning six double plays with a .962 fielding percentage. Clark led the conference in batting average (.495) and stolen bases while ranking second in hits (55), runs (42), and on-base percentage (.556). In conference only play, Clark paced the league in both hits with 39 and runs scored with 33. She also goes into this weekend's tournament seventh in the league with 15 walks drawn and ninth with a .559 slugging percentage. Clark has registered a hit in 27 of her 31 games played, recorded 18 multi-hit efforts and from March 17th to April 6th orchestrated an impressive 13-game hit streak. Clark has gotten on base for the Bulldogs in every game but one so far this season, starting the season with a 26-game on-base streak.
Strother earned her fourth straight SCAC Pitcher of the Year honor. The honor is TLU's ninth since joining the SCAC and 11th overall since becoming an NCAA institution.
Strother has followed up her third All-American season with yet another dominant campaign, holding a 0.93 ERA that ranks 15th in the country with seven shutouts - which ranks fifth nationally - one perfect game, and a no-hitter. The Seabrook, Texas, product is 17-0 in the circle and has allowed just 17 extra base hits in 2024. Strother has 126 strikeouts to just 10 walks and 13 earned runs, while opponents are batting just .175 against the senior. In conference play, Strother led the league in wins (11-0) while holding a 0.84 ERA and allowing just eight runs. Strother becomes the first pitcher in SCAC history to win Pitcher of the Year four times.
Historically, Strother has cemented herself as one of the best to ever put on a SCAC jersey and step into the circle. During her tenure in Seguin, Strother currently possesses the best winning percentage of any pitcher in league history (.943 – 82-5) and her career 0.95 ERA ranks tops in league history. Her 82 career wins and 594 strikeouts are second all-time in league history. A 15-time SCAC Pitcher of the Week honoree during her career, Strother is just the sixth player and fifth pitcher in SCAC softball history to earn four First Team All-SCAC honors.
Of the 12 student-athletes that made up the All-SCAC First Team, six of the selections were Bulldogs. The six selections outpaces the next-highest school by three. Claiming First Team honors was Clark, Strother, senior Sydney Ouellette (Corpus Christi/Gregory-Portland), juniors Linzee Leal (Corpus Christi/Mary Carroll) and Kylee Jack (Richwood/Brazoswood), and sophomore Annie Kay (Sinton/Sinton).
Seniors Reagan Hillis (Cedar Park/Cedar Park) and Madison Johnson (Round Rock/Round Rock) brought TLU's All-SCAC total to eight with selections to the All-SCAC Second Team. Junior Tavery Ortiz (Texas City/Texas City) and sophomores Harleigh Russell (Fort Worth/Boswell) and Taylor Vannett (Kingwood/Kingwood) were named All-SCAC Honorable Mention.
Strother earns her fourth First Team nod while Clark and Leal earned their second in as many years. The First Team honor is a first for Ouellette, now a four-time All-SCAC honoree, while the honors were a first for Jack and Kay. Johnson and Hillis repeat on the All-SCAC Second Team, the third honor for Johnson and the second in as many years for Hillis. The All-SCAC honors are the first for Ortiz, Russell, and Vannett.
The top-seeded Bulldogs will face the winner between No. 2 seed Trinity and No. 3 seed St. Thomas on Saturday at 3 PM at Ed Kruse Stadium. The game can be seen on TLU+. All streaming and live stats links available on tlubulldogs.com.
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