Bryce Hayes
SEGUIN, Texas — After dropping game one Friday night, the No. 8 Texas Lutheran softball team swept Saturday’s doubleheader against St. Thomas to take the series, beating the Celts, 8-3 and 9-1 Saturday afternoon at Ed Kruse Stadium.
In game one, Texas Lutheran (18-1, 10-1 SCAC) responded to St. Thomas (11-7, 10-4 SCAC) tying the game 3-3 in the third with a run in the fourth and four runs in the sixth inning while a four run sixth inning put the Celts away in game two for the walk off victory.
Texas Lutheran found itself ahead 3-0 after the first inning as the Bulldogs took an early lead. A leadoff walk to Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek) and an infield single from Annie Kay (Sinton/Sinton) placed two aboard for left fielder Harleigh Russell (Fort Worth/Boswell) who singled to left field to score Clark. An RBI fielder’s choice from Faith Hernandez (Dinuba, CA/Dinuba) and a St. Thomas error plated Kay and Russell to bring the game to 3-0.
Two Celts runs in the second and a leadoff home run in the third tied the game at three.
A sacrifice fly from Chesley Swisher (Cypress/Bridgeland) in the fourth gave the Bulldogs a one run lead.
The Bulldogs strung together a number of positive at-bats in the sixth, plating four runs to pull away from the Celts. A Celts error and a walk to Tavery Ortiz (Texas City/Texas City) set the table for Swisher to drive home Hanna Homra (Troy, TN/Obion County) who pinch ran for Faith Hernandez. The final three runs of the game came via a pinch-hit three-run home run from Serena Gonzalez (Corpus Christi/Foy H. Moody).
Katelyn Howard (Waller/Hempstead) earned the win after tossing 4.0 innings of three-run ball and striking out two. The right-hander scattered four hits and two walks, settling in after the leadoff home run in the third. Amanda White (Lockhart/Lockhart) closed things out, allowing one hit and a walk over the final three innings to pick up her third save of the season.
No. 8 Texas Lutheran clinched the series over the Celts in run-rule fashion Saturday afternoon, winning 9-1 in six innings. With the win, Texas Lutheran won its 69th consecutive conference series victory dating back to joining the conference in 2014.
Senior outfielder Annie Kay finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored to lead the Bulldogs.
Texas Lutheran registered 13 hits for nine runs in the game while the TLU pitching duo of Ainsley Davis (Rockwall/Jesuit (OR)) and Amanda White sacrificed just one run on five hits.
After a scoreless first, TLU would score in every inning but the fifth. In the second, a leadoff home run from Faith Hernandez put the Bulldogs on top.
In the third, Harleigh Russell drove in Annie Kay with an RBI double before Taylor Vannett (Kingwood/Kingwood) drove in Russell with a sacrifice fly.
The fourth inning saw Caelee Clark score on an infield RBI single from Annie Kay and Vannett picked up her second RBI of the game to score Kay.
St. Thomas would score their lone run in the top of the sixth.
Following back-to-back singles from Clark and Kay, Serena Gonzalez brought home Clark with an RBI single to start the Bulldogs four-run sixth inning. Hernandez drove in her second run of the game with an RBI single to score Kay. Tavery Ortiz drove in the third run of the inning on an error from St. Thomas. Bridgette Montes (Burleson/Burleson) scored the walk-off run on a passed ball to end the game.
Eight Bulldogs registered a hit in the game with five plating at least one run, led by two each from Hernandez and Vannett. Hernandez finished 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI, and a walk while Vannett finished 1-for-2 with two RBI.
In the circle, Davis earned the win after tossing four shutout innings in her first start of the season, allowing three hits and two walks to two strikeouts. The Rockwall native stranded five Celts in her four innings pitched. White surrendered one run on two hits with two strikeouts to earn the save, her fourth of the season. With the save, White ties former teammate Sydney Ouellette for the most saves in a single-season in program history.
The Bulldogs travel to Austin College to begin a three-game SCAC series in Sherman on Friday, March 21. First pitch is scheduled for 7 PM. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.
For more information on Texas Lutheran softball, follow the Bulldogs on Facebook (@txlutheransoftball), X (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).