IRVING, Texas â€" The Texas Lutheran softball program finished a four-game road sweep of Dallas on Saturday afternoon, sweeping a doubleheader at Crusader Field and stretching its winning streak to 13 games.
 
The Bulldogs won the first game on Saturday 6-3 before closing out the four-game series with an 11-1 blowout in five innings. The pair of wins improve TLU's record to 17-5 on the year and continue their unblemished start to SCAC play, improving to 10-0 in the league.
 
The Bulldogs opened the day holding off a seventh-inning Dallas rally to secure a 6-3 victory. After taking a three run lead into the final frame, it looked like TLU had finished the Crusaders off by scoring three more in the top of the seventh to take a commanding 6-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning.
 
Dallas wasn't quite ready to go quietly into the night though, as Samantha Yenne, who had held the Crusaders scoreless on just three hits through the first six innings, gave up a three-run homerun to Ciara Stewart with still nobody out.
 
Taylor Grissom entered the game after the Stewart homer and quickly slammed the door for the Bulldogs, recording her first save of the season and giving up just a one-out single. She got all three outs on fly balls or pop flies.
 
Those three runs the Bulldogs scored in the top of the seventh proved key. The two key contributors to that three-run inning were Taylor Yancey (Magnolia, Texas) and Hope Estes (Willis, Texas). Yancey got the scoring going on an RBI double to right center before Estes finished the inning off with a two-run single through the right side.
 
The double was Yancey's team-leading ninth of the season and gave her 19 RBI on the year. Estes' two-run single gave her 15 RBI on the year. Fourteen of those RBI have come in her last nine games. She finished the day 3-for-4 with a run to go along with those two RBI.
 
As mentioned, Yenne (Lake Jackson, Texas) had a strong outing in the circle, improving to 3-2 with the win. She pitched the game's first six innings without allowing a run before running into trouble trying to finish of the complete game. She finished the game giving up three runs on six hits while tallying three strikeouts.
 
The Bulldogs' offense finished with 11 hits on the day with four players notching two hits apiece. TLU took the lead in the third inning, scoring two runs in the frame on a Jaime Ohm RBI groundout and a Grace Estes RBI.
 
The next inning Grace Estes would extend the lead to three with a solo homerun, trying her for the team lead with three homers on the season. She finished 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
 
The Bulldogs finished off the convincing sweep in dominant fashion, defeating the Crusaders in five innings for the second time in the series, this time winning 11-1. The offense did almost all of its damage in the second and third innings, scoring 10 runs in that span.
 
After both teams failed to score in the first inning, but things quickly changed in the second as the Bulldogs unleashed four runs. Hope Estes continued her strong day by driving in the game's first run on an RBI single that scored Ashley Jacobsen. Two more runs would come across on a two-run triple from Molly Gorrie before Grace Estes capped off the inning with an RBI single.
 
Things kept clicking for the TLU offense in the third inning as the Bulldogs exploded for six more runs and blew the game open. Jacobsen got the inning started with an infield RBI ingle. Estes drove in another run on a groundout, while another run came across on an error. Grace Estes drew a walk with the bases loaded to make it 8-0 and Jacquelyn Brown extended the TLU lead to double digits with a two-run single.
 
The Bulldogs finished with 13 hits in the game and ended up outhitting the Crusaders 41-16 in the series. They outscored Dallas 35-4 in the four games.
 
Kimberly Leschber (Thorndale, Texas) tallied her first complete game in a Texas Lutheran uniform. The sophomore transfer went the distance, giving up just one run and working around six hits. She improved to 5-2 on the year with the win.
 
Texas Lutheran will leave conference play for a pair of midweek doubleheaders against Linfield College and Pacific Lutheran at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 26 and 5 p.m. Thursday, March 27, respectively. Those two doubleheaders will be the first games ever played at the new Ed Kruse Softball Stadium on campus at TLU. Live video and live stats will be available via TLUBulldogs.com.