GEORGETOWN, Texas â€" The Texas Lutheran softball team stretched its winning streak to seven games on Monday, sweeping a road SCAC doubleheader against Southwestern at Taylor-Sanders Field.
 
The Bulldogs won the first game 10-6 before finishing the doubleheader off with a come-from-behind 4-1 victory.
 
The pair of wins improved Texas Lutheran's record to 11-5 on the year and marked the sixth straight win to start conference play as the Bulldogs now own a 6-0 SCAC record. The two losses dropped Southwestern's record to 5-12-1 on the year and 2-4 in conference play.
 
In the first game, the Bulldogs' offense, coming off a 35-run performance in its four-game series against Austin College, kept rolling on its way to a 7-0 lead. The Bulldogs scored those seven runs in the first four innings before Southwestern got to the TLU bullpen late to make the final score closer. The Pirates' two runs in the fourth inning broke up a 21-inning scoreless streak for TLU pitching.
 
The Bulldogs racked up 17 hits in the game with Hope Estes, Ashley Jacobsen and Graces Estes all coming up with at least two RBI.
 
Most of the Bulldogs' damage came in the third and fourth innings, where they scored three runs in both frames and opened up their 7-0 lead. The first run of the game came in the second inning with Hope Estes (Willis, Texas) driving in Taylor Yancey on a fielder's choice.
 
The Bulldogs' three runs in the third inning were keyed a Jacobsen (Marion, Texas) RBI single and back-to-back RBI doubles from Yancey (Magnolia, Texas) and Grace Estes (Willis, Texas).
 
Jacobsen drove in another run in the sixth inning and finished the game 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI.
 
After taking an 8-2 lead, it looked like TLU would be able to cruise to victory, but Southwestern two runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the TLU lead to 8-4. Hope Estes put the game away with a two-run homer in the top of the seventh. It was her first-career homerun as a Bulldog. She finished the game 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored.
 
Freshman Amanda Lochte (Fredericksburg, Texas) earned the win in the circle for the Bulldogs, improving to 3-0 in the process. Lochte tossed five innings, giving up two runs while scattering 10 hits across her outing. The freshman struck out one.
 
Elyse Hlavinka (Bellville, Texas) finished the game off, giving up four runs in her two innings of work on seven hits.
 
Texas Lutheran had to grind a little more in the second game as the offense was slowed for the first time in a while. In fact, the Pirates pitching held the Bulldogs scoreless for the game's first five innings and took a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning.
 
Finally though, the Bulldogs' bats came back alive behind a huge home run from Yancey (Magnolia, Texas).  Grace Estes led the sixth inning off with a single to right field. Yancey came up next and gave the Bulldogs the 2-1 lead with one swing of the bat. The two-run bomb briefly gave Yancey the team lead in homers, but she was quickly tied as Grace Estes made it 4-1 with a solo shot in the top of the seventh.
 
Megan Armistead (Montgomery, Texas) drove in the third run for the Bulldogs, scoring Maegan Taylor on an RBI single.
 
Taylor Grissom (Spring, Texas), less than a week removed from throwing the fifth perfect game in TLU history, got the start in the circle and earned the win to improve to 3-1. While her performance wasn't perfect like it was in a game earlier this week against Austin College, the sophomore still pitched well, notching a complete game and allowing just one run on five hits, while tying a career high with seven strikeouts.
 
Grissom allowed four hits and one run in the first two innings, then promptly slammed the door on the Pirates, holding them to one hit and striking out four. She retired 14 straight batters at one point after the second inning.
 
The Bulldogs are back in action tomorrow (Saturday) with another 1 p.m. doubleheader against the Pirates. Live stats and audio are available via TLUBulldogs.com.