-Bryce Hayes, TLU Sports Information
(Georgetown) – No. 5 ranked Texas Lutheran softball owns a six-game winning streak and remains unbeaten in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play after sweeping a three-game series at Southwestern over the weekend. The Bulldogs blanked the Pirates 7-0 on Friday and took both ends of a Saturday doubleheader 6-0 and 8-1.
The TLU offense registered seven runs on 15 hits with four different Bulldogs tallying an RBI on Friday.
Ashlyn Strother’s phenomenal run in the circle continued, tossing her seventh complete game of the season – striking out 15 Pirates batters in the process. Strother would allow two hits and a walk in her fourth complete game shutout of the season. With the win, Strother moved to a SCAC-leading 11-0.
After two innings that saw the TLU offense lie dormant, the Bulldogs would strike first in the third inning scoring their first run courtesy of an RBI single from Casey Martin. This would begin an onslaught in which the Bulldogs would score in four consecutive innings.
An infield single from Sarah Metzer scored Chassety Raines to make it 2-0 after four innings. After Madison Johnson stole home, Faith Hernandez would hit a two-run home run – the first of her collegiate career – to extend the Bulldogs lead to 5-0 after five innings.
RBI singles from Kelly Jurden and Casey Martin would tack on two more runs in the sixth inning.
Saturday, the Bullldogs collected their NCAA Division-III best 11th shutout of the season. TLU has only allowed three runs over the course of their last six games.
In Saturday’s early game, the Bulldogs beat Southwestern 6-0 led by a complete game shutout by Sydney Ouellette, who threw her fourth complete game to pick up her fifth win of the season. Ouellette struck out two batters and allowed just three hits on the afternoon with no walks.
After being held scoreless through four innings, Texas Lutheran would score a total of six runs in the fifth and sixth innings to pull away from the Pirates.
Madison Johnson got the scoring started with an RBI single and Laura Hernandez drew a bases loaded walk to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead in the fifth.
Casey Martin and Olivia Prinz drove in two runs each via RBI doubles to stretch the Bulldogs lead to the final tally of 6-0.
Martin would finish 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two stolen bases in game one. Her two stolen bases brought her career total to 74 – moving her into fifth in program history passing Kyla Lockley (2017-18).
In game two, Strother took the circle and allowed one run on one hit, while striking out seven to record her 12th win of the season.
After a fourth inning solo home run game Southwestern a 1-0 lead, Texas Lutheran would score eight unanswered runs.
The Bulldogs would score six runs in the fifth inning capped off by a grand slam from Georgetown, Texas, native Olivia Prinz.
Prinz would go 1-for-3 with five RBIs and a walk in game two and finish with seven RBIs on the afternoon.
The Bulldogs would score two more runs in the top of the seventh to secure the series sweep.
Up next, Texas Lutheran (23-4, 9-0 SCAC) concludes its five-game road trip as they travel to Concordia University in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday for a mid-week, non-conference doubleheader against the Tornados. First pitch is scheduled for 4 PM and 6 PM. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.