TLU Softball completes perfect run through SCAC regular season
-Tim Clark, TLU Sports Information
(Seguin) – Texas Lutheran Softball finished off its perfect run through the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season with 7-2 and 9-1 victories Saturday over the University of St. Thomas.
At TLU’s Ed Kruse Stadium (Morck Softball Field), the Bulldogs received a 14-strikeout performance from redshirt freshman right-hander Ashlyn Strother in game one and two-run home run from school home run
record-holder Haley Padilla in the second game.
The Bulldogs, ranked second in the latest NFCA poll for NCAA Division III, improved to 27-4 overall and to 18-0 in the SCAC. TLU is the SCAC regular-season champion and the top seed for this weekend’s SCAC Softball Championship at Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas.
TLU opens the SCAC tournament on Friday at 4 p.m. against the winner of a first-round matchup between Southwestern and Centenary.
St. Thomas, in transition to NCAA Division III from the NAIA, is not eligible for the SCAC’s post-season softball tournament since an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III playoffs will be on the line. St. Thomas
dropped to 20-11 overall and to 15-5 in the SCAC.
In the early game, Strother moved her pitching record to 9-1. The 14 strikeouts were a career-high for Strother. She allowed four hits and two runs, both unearned, and walked two.
Laura Hernandez hit a solo home run for the Bulldogs in the fourth. Chassey Raines had an RBI double in the second and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch RBI in the sixth.
In game two, Padilla hit her 20th career home run – and her fourth in 15 games this season. She hit a two-run shot in the first inning. Padilla scored i the third inning on a triple to right-center field from Bailey
Hudgeons.
Sydney Ouellette moved her pitching record to 12-2 with four innings of work. Senior right-hander Kayla Oliveira worked a perfect fifth inning.
TLU baseball earns road sweep of Schreiner
-Tim Clark, TLU Sports Information
(Kerrville) – Texas Lutheran took a half-game lead over Trinity for first place in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball standings by sweeping Saturday’s doubleheader at Schreiner 15-2, 16-3, and closing the series with a 12-9 win in 11 innings on Sunday.
TLU improved to 22-10 overall and to 13-2 in the SCAC. Schreiner dropped to 13-24 overall and to 6-12.
Randy Huerta hit three home runs in the Saturday doubleheader – two in the first game – as the Bulldogs tallied four home runs in the first game and four more in the second.
In game one, Joe Jimenez hit a three-run home run in the fourth. Huerta and Tyler Cauley added two-run home runs in the fifth and sixth, respectively.
Huerta hit his second of game one in the sixth. The blast was another two-run shot. Huerta was 3-for-5 with six RBI (a career-high) and two runs scored.
Jimenez went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI in the early game.
Landon Weatherly went the full seven innings, striking out four and allowed just two earned runs. He moved to 4-1.
In game two, Tyler Post and Huerta left the yard back-to-back in the second inning. Cauley belted a two-run shot in the third, and Jimenez added a two-run homer in the seventh.
Joe Burch took his record to 5-1 with a complete-game performance. He struck out seven and did not issue a walk.
The Bulldogs appeared on their way to another comfortable win Sunday, taking an 8-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth. Schreiner rallied for two runs in the eighth and five in the ninth to tie the game at 9-9. Schreiner had the winning run at second base with two outs in the ninth.
The Bulldogs used a two-out rally in the bottom of the 11th to get back in front. Randy Huerta started the rally with a double. He was followed by back-to-back doubles from Nick Gardoni and Collin Docker. Gardoni drove home Huerta, and Docker brought home pinch runner Blake Cappadona.
Blade Strzelczyk delivered the third run of the inning with a single that scored Docker.
Brendan Beard pitched 2-1/3 innings of shutout relief and improved to 2-2. He struck out four and walked one.
Austin Colon and Tyler Post homered for the Bulldogs. Huerta and Docker each had two doubles.
TLU hits the road this Tuesday for a non-conference contest against Trinity University. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. in San Antonio.