NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas â€" The Texas Lutheran softball team completed a dominant four-game sweep of Austin College in its first-ever SCAC series with a pair of shutouts on Tuesday afternoon at New Braunfels Canyon High School.
 
The Bulldogs finished off the sweep with 5-0 and 8-0 victories in the afternoon doubleheader and ended the series by shutting out the 'Roos for the final 18 innings of play.
 
In the first game, the 5-0 shutout, freshman Samantha Yenne (Lake Jackson, Texas) earned the win in the circle, improving to 2-2 on the year. She pitched the first six innings and allowed just four hits while striking out a career-high seven batters.
 
Freshman Veny Pizana (Odem, Texas) finished off the game, throwing the final allowing and sitting Austin College down in order, recording her first two strikeouts of her career in the process.
 
The Bulldogs were solid offensively in the game, scoring in each of the first four innings to take the commanding 5-0 lead. Grace Estes (Willis, Texas) and Taylor Yancey (Magnolia, Texas) were the stars in the first game, finishing a combined 5-for-6 with three RBI and two runs scored.
 
Estes went 2-for-2 on the day with two walks, reaching base all four at-bats. Both of her hits were doubles and she scored twice on Yancey RBI singles. Yancey finished with those two RBI and 3-for-4 on the day.
 
The Bulldogs ended up with nine total hits and also ran the bases aggressively, notching five steals and being caught stealing just once.
 
The first run came across in the first inning during a two-out rally. Estes started the rally with a double off the right-field wall and came across to score when Yancey ripped a single up the middle. The Bulldogs tacked on another run in the second after Jacquelyn Brown stole third and came home on after the third baseman failed to field to throw from the catcher.
 
Another run came across in the third inning via another Yancey single up the middle. Estes had gotten on base with a walk and stole second. The final two runs of the game were scored in the fourth inning. Brown crossed home plate after a Molly Gorrie RBI single and Estes drove in the final run on an RBI double.
 
The strong pitching continued in the second game with Kimberly Leschber (Thorndale, Texas) getting the start in the circle and improving to 3-2 on the year. She tossed the game's first four innings, holding Austin College to just two hits while striking out three. Pizana pitched the final two innings and allowed two hits while striking out one. Just one of the 'Roos' four hits made it out of the infield on the day.
 
The Bulldogs utilized the long ball for the first time in the series in the second game, hammering two homers in the contest. The game started with a bang for the offense, with Ashley Jacobsen (Marion, Texas) slamming a leadoff homerun in the first inning over the right-field fence. It was Jacobsen's second homerun of the season and gave her a team-leading 13 RBI on the year.
 
The Bulldogs got another homerun in the third inning. This time it was Yancey coming up with a no-doubt-about-it three-run blast that was part of a four-run third inning that opened up a 5-0 lead for Texas Lutheran. It was Yancey's second homer of the year. She finished the game 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored.
 
TLU finished the four-game series with 44 hits, batting .444 and scoring 35 runs. Leading the way was Grace Estes. She went 7-for-10 in the four games with four doubles, four RBI and six runs scored. She also drew four walks and finished with an .800 on-base percentage.
 
The pitching was outstanding all series as the Bulldogs finished with a team ERA of just 0.61 and held the 'Roos to just a .175 batting average as a team.
 
With four conference wins under their belt now, the Bulldogs assume the top spot in the conference and will head out on the road for the first time in SCAC play next weekend when they take on Southwestern in a four-game series Friday, March 14 and Saturday March 15. Both doubleheaders in Georgetown, Texas will start at 1 p.m.