SEGUIN â€" The Texas Lutheran softball squad better break out their dancing shoes. The Bulldogs are advancing to their first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament in just a couple weeks after shutting out Trinity 3-0 on Sunday afternoon in the SCAC Softball Championship finals at Theos Morck Field and Ed Kruse Stadium.
 
"It's a great feeling," Texas Lutheran coach Wade Wilson said afterwards. "These kids worked hard all year. They put in the work, and it has paid off.
 
"We hit when we need to. Defensively I thought we were very sharp. Yesterday's game with Trinity I thought we played as well as we had all year. We pitched very well today. The depth we have in pitching paid off for us in the tournament setting."
 
The Bulldogs (32-7) finished off a dominant season that saw them lose just one conference game. Fittingly, they trailed for just half an inning in the three games at the SCAC Championship and ended the tournament with a 14-inning shutout streak.
 
The Bulldogs got all three runs in the third inning, scoring the first off a Taylor Yancey RBI single and the final two runs off a Jennifer Gallagher double to deep left center.
 
That offense was all the Bulldog pitching needed as Kimberly Leschber and Samantha Yenne combined for the four-hit shutout.
 
Leschber (Thorndale, Texas) got the start, her first of the tournament, and earned her ninth win to improve to 9-2 on the season. She tossed the game's first four innings and started the fifth before being lifted after allowing a leadoff double. The junior transfer from Trinity Valley Community College spread out four hits and a walk across her four innings of work.
 
She did a good job of working with runners on base all game, especially getting out of a first-inning bases-loaded jam with a huge strikeout of Lauren Mercado. It was her lone strikeout of the outing.
 
"They had the bases loaded in the first inning, and we got out of that," Wilson said. "If something different happens, a different outcome, it could have been a much different game."

After allowing the leadoff double in the fifth inning, Wilson went to his bullpen and the freshman Yenne to close the game out. With a runner on second and nobody out, Yenne proceeded to get three groundball outs and keep the shutout intact.
 
If the freshman had any nerves coming into a conference championship contest, she surely didn't show it. In fact, she sat down all nine batters she faced, getting the final out of the contest on a line drive that was snagged by shortstop Grace Estes.
 
The Bulldogs' offense did almost all of its damage in that third inning, tallying four of their five hits in that frame. Jacquelyn Brown (Vidor, Texas) was the only Bulldog to notch more than one hit, finishing 2-for-3 with a run scored.
 
Yancey (Magnolia, Texas) continued to be the big run producer in the middle of the potent TLU lineup, driving in at least one run in each of the three tournament games. She finished the tournament 5-for-10 with five RBI and two doubles.
 
The Bulldogs had seven players named to the All-Tournament team. Yancey, Ashley Jacobsen, Grace Estes, Molly Gorrie, Gallagher, Yenne and Taylor Grissom all earned spots on the squad.
 
The Bulldogs will find out both who and where they play in the NCAA Tournament after the NCAA Division III Tournament Selection Show, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. CT Monday, May 5 on NCAA.com.
 
All-Tournament Team
C: Caitlynn Dykes, Trinity
1B: Taylor Yancey, TLU
2B: Ashley Jacobsen, TLU
SS: Grace Estes, TLU
3B: Sarah Paller, Trinity
OF: Molly Gorrie, TLU
OF: Mallory Rossmann, Austin College
OF: Linsay Biggers, Southwestern
Util: Avery Finch, Dallas
P: Cozette Palmer, Southwestern
P: Samantha Yenne, TLU
P: Taylor Grissom, TLU