-Bryce Hayes, TLU Sports Information
(Columbus, Ga.) – The No.3 ranked Texas Lutheran softball team earned five wins, two against nationally ranked opponents, against one loss to No. 1 DePauw last week at the three-day NFCA Division III Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Georgia.
Texas Lutheran swept through day one on Friday, defeating 15th-ranked St. John Fisher 5-3 before topping Coe College 8-5 in a comeback victory.
Texas Lutheran hit .316 over the two games including a trio of home runs in the second game to spark a rally. Sophomore Laura Hernandez hit her first home run of the season while Chassety Raines hit her third of the season – tying for first in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference – and Bailey Hudgeons hit her second of the season.
In game one, Ashlyn Strother threw a complete game in the circle, striking out 12 Cardinals on the afternoon while six Bulldogs registered at least one hit offensively.
Raines opened the scoring with an RBI double in the second inning before an infield single from Casey Martin extended the Bulldogs lead in the third. Laura Hernandez continued the scoring in the sixth – ripping an RBI single to left field scoring Lexi Coward. After pinch running for Hernandez, Linzee Leal would score on a double steal to bring the Bulldogs to their final tally of five runs in the bottom of the sixth.
After allowing a second inning single, Strother would hold the Cardinals hitless until the top of the seventh when their offense showed signs of life before she quieted the rally – striking out her final batter.
Texas Lutheran turned around to face Coe College (0-2) in the second game of the day, putting up eight runs on 10 hits. The Bulldogs started the game in an early deficit trailing 5-1 through three innings with an RBI double from Bailey Hudgeons in the top of the third as the only offense entering the top of the fourth following a four run bottom of the third from the Eagles.
The Bulldogs would respond by scoring in three straight innings. A solo home run from Hernandez followed by an RBI single from Kelly Jurden would get the rally started in the top of the fourth. Bulldogs would get back on the board in the fifth via a two-run home run from Chassety Raines. Bailey Hudgeons, who scored on the Raines home run, would break the 5-5 tie hitting a three-run home run of her own to bring her RBI total to four for the game and give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game, 8-5.
Amanda White collected her first win of the season tossing four scoreless innings in relief, striking out five and surrendering three hits and walking one batter. Sophomore Sydney Ouellette got the start and and struck out four in three innings, giving up five runs on seven hits, with all runs being unearned.
TLU split its doubleheader Saturday with a game one 13-9 loss to No. 1 DePauw and a 6-2 victory over No. 16 Trine in the second game.
Freshman Faith Hernandez would get the scoring started in the bottom of the first with a two-RBI double as the Bulldogs would scratch five runs across in the inning capped off by an RBI double from outfielder Sidney Cox.
DePauw responded in the top of the second with a run of their own – shrinking the Bulldogs lead to 5-1.
Texas Lutheran would score two more runs in the bottom of the second with RBIs from Faith and Laura Hernandez as the Bulldogs lead would increase to 7-1.
DePauw would begin to claw back into the game with four runs in the third inning and an additional run in the fourth – tacking on five runs on six hits and two Texas Lutheran errors to make it a one run game entering the bottom of the fourth.
A Chassety Raines sacrifice fly and Bailey Hudgeons solo home run would get two runs back for TLU in the bottom of the fourth with the Bulldogs leading 9-6 entering the fifth inning.
The Bulldogs would have just three hits over the next three innings as DePauw pitcher Kersten Brayton kept the Bulldogs off the bases while the Tigers scored seven runs over the course of the final three innings to secure a comeback victory.
In game two, Texas Lutheran hit two home runs led by Bailey Hudgeons 2-for-3, performance that included her Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) leading fourth home run of the season – her second of the day – and two RBI performance.
Casey Martin hit her first home run of the season in the first inning and would finish 3-for-4, scoring two runs in the game.
Trine would respond with a run in the bottom of the first to tie the ballgame. A Sarah Metzer RBI triple would break the tie in the top of the second. Hudgeons would break the game open in the third with a two-run home run that would increase the Bulldogs lead to 5-1. Trine would homer in the bottom of the fourth but an RBI double from Kelly Jurden would return the Trine deficit to the final total of four runs.
Following her 12-strikeout performance on Friday, Ashlyn Strother went the distance, striking out 13 in seven innings and surrendering two runs on four hits to collect her fourth win of the season.
TLU finished the weekend with a 12-2 run-rule victory over Emory University and 3-0 shutout victory over Manhattanville Sunday at the South Commons Complex in Columbus, Georgia.
Freshman Olivia Prinz broke the game open with a third inning grand slam, her first career home run, to cap off a six run Bulldogs inning to give Texas Lutheran a 7-1 lead. The Texas Lutheran offense tallied 11 hits in five innings to run-rule Emory. Nine different Bulldogs registered a hit in the contest led by two hits each from Kelly Jurden and Bailey Hudgeons. Hudgeons, Jurden, Casey Martin, Laura Hernandez, Sarah Metzer, and Murphy Williams all brought in runs on RBI singles while a sacrifice fly from Faith Hernandez would score another.
Sophomore Ashlyn Strother was masterful in the circle for the Bulldogs continuing her impressive weekend – striking out six in four innings to pick up her fifth win of the season. For the weekend, Strother went 3-0 with 31 strikeouts.
Approximately 40 minutes later, TLU turned around to face the Valiants of Manhattanville and continued their dominant day.
Junior pitcher Amanda White commanded a no-hitter for four and two-thirds as she went the distance for the Bulldogs for a complete game shutout, striking out one and surrendering just two hits to the 23 batters she faced.
A Chassety Raines sacrifice fly would get the scoring started in the first inning to give the Bulldogs an immediate 1-0 lead. After stealing third base, Kirsten Williams would score on a throwing error from the Valiants catcher in the fourth and Olivia Prinz would hit her second home run of the day to left center in the fifth inning to give the Bulldogs their winning tally of 3-0.
Texas Lutheran is outscoring opponents 79-31, nine of which have been unearned. The Bulldogs have hit 12 home runs this season for an average of one per game.
TLU concludes the NFCA Leadoff Classic with a 5-1 record with their only loss coming to No.1 DePauw. Junior outfielder Bailey Hudgeons was named to the NFCA Division-III All-Tournament Team, the NFCA announced Sunday night. For the weekend, Hudgeons hit .632 with three home runs and eight RBI in six games this weekend. Hudgeons now leads the SCAC in batting average, home runs, RBI, total bases, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
Texas Lutheran returns to Ed Kruse Stadium on Thursday, March 10, to face the visiting Case Western Reserve Spartans in a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 3 & 5 PM. All streaming and stat links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.