TLU softball opens SCAC play with series sweep of Southwestern
(Seguin) – Texas Lutheran opened the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference softball schedule with a 3-0 series sweep of Southwestern at Ed Kruse Stadium/ Morck Softball Field last week, blanking the Pirates 8-0 in six innings on Friday and 10-0 in five innings in Saturday’s early game, and closing out the set with a 6-2 in Saturday’s finale.
The defending NCAA DIII national champion Bulldogs, seeking a seventh consecutive SCAC Championship, moved their overall record to 8-3 overall and to 3-0 in the conference.
Southwestern fell to 4-7 overall and to 3-3 in the SCAC.
Ashlyn Strother spun a two-hit shutout against the Pirates on Friday. The freshman right-hander, in her second year with the Bulldogs, struck out four and worked around two walks. She improved to 4-0 in 2021 and to 12-0 in her career. She lowered her 2021 ERA to 0.80.
Skylar Ouellette and McKay Bloxham each had RBI triples, and Haley Padilla delivered the walk-off single in the sixth that resulted in the run-rule victory.
Ouellette drove in a pair, and Kelly Jurden scored two runs, drove in a run, and had two stolen bases. Jurden, TLU’s all-time steals leader, has 14 steals in eight games in 2021. She has 127 in her career.
Kali Chatham went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a stolen base.
Sydney Ouellette allowed just one hit in four innings in Saturday’s first game as TLU jumped to a quick 4-0 lead in the first.
TLU added five more runs in the fourth, and the game ended in the fifth with Southwestern collecting just the one hit. Kayla Oliveira tossed a perfect fifth inning.
The Bulldogs’ offense in the early game received three RBI from Chassety Raines, three runs scored from Kelly Jurden, and two RBI each from Casey Martin and McKay Bloxham.
In the late game, Raines went the distance in the circle to claim her first win of the year. Raines (1-0) struck out one and did not walk a batter. She scattered seven hits.
Jurden went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, and Bloxham and Raines each tripled. Bloxham had three hits.
TLU hits the road to Victoria, Texas on Tuesday for a non-conference doubleheader with the NAIA’s University of Houston at Victoria. First pitch at UHV is set for 1 p.m.
TLU baseball drops two of three in road series vs. ETBU
(Marshall) – Texas Lutheran baseball hammered East Texas Baptist 19-4 in the opening game of a weekend series in Marshall on Friday, but the Tigers bounced back to beat the Bulldogs 2-0 and 13-5 in the Saturday doubleheader.
TLU is 6-4 after the two non-conference losses. ETBU improved to 9-5.
TLU belted four home runs and collected eight extra-base hits and 18 total hits in the Friday win.
The Bulldogs opened a 6-1 lead after four innings and broke the game wide open with an eight-run seventh and a three-run eighth.
TLU senior right-fielder Tyler Cauley blasted a pair of home runs in the win. Cauley has four on the season and 32 in his career. He drove in four runs against the Tigers and now has 163 career RBI in 151 games as a Bulldog.
Cauley hit a two-run home run in the fourth and another two-run homer in the eighth.
Cole Irby added four hits and three RBI. Irby, the reigning Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week, raised his average to .559 in eight games.
Six different Bulldogs had at least two RBI. Collin Docker went 4-for-6 with two runs and two RBI. Docker also homered in the eighth.
Joe Jimenez hit a two-run home run in the seventh, walked twice, and scored three runs.
Matthew Hickey moved to 2-0 with the pitching victory. Hickey went 5-2/3 innings and struck out five.
Chase Cutler pitched the final 3-1/3 and picked up his first save of the year. He struck out three.
In Saturday’s early game, the seven-inning contest, ETBU’s Isaiah Alvarenga tossed a one-hit shutout.
Alvarenga struck out six and walked two. He improved to 3-0.
Caleb Maly had the lone TLU hit – a single through the left side to lead off the fourth inning.
The Tigers pushed across a run in the fifth and a run in the sixth.
The first run scored on a Will Kelley single to left field. The second run came home on a TLU throwing error.
Landon Weatherly pitched well in the game one loss. The senior right-hander struck out eight and allowed only two hits.
In the late game, TLU jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings, but ETBU rallied to tie the game with three runs in the third and two more runs in the fourth.
The Tigers took the lead with a run in the fifth and broke the game open with two runs in the seventh and five more in the eighth.
ETBU collected 16 hits in the late game.
TLU’s Austin Colon went 3-for-5 in the second game. He scored a pair of runs.
Cole Irby drove in three runs and had two hits.
TLU returns to Katt-Isbel Field for Tuesday’s home doubleheader with Our Lady of the Lake. The first game is set for a 3 p.m. start. TLU will have live video and live stats on tlubulldogs.com.