SEGUIN, Texas -- Following a long weekend that featured a trip to Shreveport, Louisiana, No. 8 Texas Lutheran swept through its first ranked matchup of the 2025 season taking both games of their doubleheader against No. 24 Rochester on Monday at Ed Kruse Stadium, 4-1, 6-5 in nine innings.
Amanda White (Lockhart/Lockhart) was a force in the circle, limiting the 24th-ranked Yellowjackets to four hits over 5.1 innings with their lone run coming on a solo home run to pick up her seventh win of the season.
Six Bulldogs registered a hit in the game with Faith Hernandez (Dinuba, CA/Dinuba), Harleigh Russell (Fort Worth/Boswell), Taylor Vannett (Kingwood/Kingwood), and Linzee Leal (Corpus Christi/Mary Carroll) all driving in runs.
Rochester got the scoring started with a solo home run from All-American outfielder Riley Laygo, one of her two hits on the day.
Texas Lutheran got the run back in the bottom of the fourth as Linzee Leal stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and tied the game with an RBI fielder's choice.
The Bulldogs poured it on in the fifth with three runs on four hits, chasing the Yellowjackets All-Region pitcher, Molly Broccolo, in the process. Back-to-back singles followed by a Yellowjackets throwing error loaded the bases yet again for TLU. A bases loaded walk to Faith Hernandez gave the Bulldogs the lead. After reloading the bases, RBI singles by Harleigh Russell and Taylor Vannett brought the game to its final score of 4-1.
Ainsley Davis (Rockwall/Jesuit (OR)) entered the game in the sixth and finished the game with 1.2 hitless innings to earn her second save of the season.
The Bulldogs needed every one of their 10 hits in game two to stay undefeated in what made for an epic battle between two ranked squads.
After going up 2-0 in the third following an RBI single from Linzee Leal and her stealing home later in the inning, Rochester would cut the lead in half in the fourth.
An RBI single from Taylor Vannett, who finished 4-for-4 in game two, restored the Bulldogs two run lead at 3-1. Rochester fought back to tie the game at three in the top of the seventh, sending the game to extras.
Despite the international tiebreaker rule placing a runner at second, both teams would go scoreless in the eighth before Rochester would plate two runs to take a 5-3 lead and set the stage for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the ninth.
Following a leadoff groundout, An RBI single from Taylor Vannett, a single from Linzee Leal, and a walk to Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek) loaded the bases with one out. Missy Muras (La Grange/La Grange) reached on a catcher's interference to score the tying run before a bases loaded walk to Mia Landry (Cypress/Bridgeland) would walk it off for the Bulldogs.
Vannett paced the team with a 4-for-4 performance including a triple and two-RBI, while Leal went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Katelyn Howard (Waller/Hempstead) got the start and earned a no decision, allowing one run on four hits over 3.2 innings. Davis entered and threw 1.1 innings in relief before turning it over to Amanda White who would earn her second win of the day and eighth of the season, tossing four innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on three hits.
With the win Texas Lutheran improves to 16-0, matching the 2016 TLU Softball team for the best start to a season in program history.
Texas Lutheran returns to SCAC play this weekend as they welcome the St. Thomas Celts to Ed Kruse Stadium for a three-game series starting on Friday, March 14. First pitch is slated for 6 PM with the game being broadcast on TLU+. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.
For more information on Texas Lutheran softball, follow the Bulldogs on Facebook (@txlutheransoftball), X (Twitter) (@TLUsoftball), and Instagram (@tlu_softball) and as always you can find updates on all Texas Lutheran athletics on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics on Twitter, @tlu_athletics on Instagram and TikTok, and @tlubulldogs on Facebook).
