SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran University softball head coach
Wade Wilson became the fourth coach in Texas Lutheran history to reach 500 career wins as the No. 8-ranked Bulldogs earned an Opening Day doubleheader sweep over University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Friday afternoon at Ed Kruse Stadium.
Wilson's 500th win improves his career record to 501-97 (.838) at Texas Lutheran and at the collegiate level, only trailing former UT-Tyler and East Texas Baptist head coach Mike Reed for highest winning percentage in NCAA softball history.
Texas Lutheran didn't take long to get into the groove in 2026 as
Katelyn Howard (Waller/Hempstead) tossed a no-hitter in the Bulldogs first game of the season and the TLU offense combined for 17 runs on 19 hits over the course of Friday's two games.
Senior
Katelyn Howard made her first Opening Day start on Friday, striking out eight of her 22 batters faced as she kept the Crusaders off the base paths until the seventh inning. A seventh inning walk and error would be the only blemish for Howard in her stellar season-opening performance. The no-hitter is the 34th in program history and the second Howard has been apart of as she combined with Ashlyn Strother and Sydney Ouellette for a no-hitter in the 2023 NCAA Marshall Regional against SUNY-Geneseo. It is the first Opening Day no-hitter since Maitlin Raycroft tossed a 16 K no-hitter against Huston-Tillotson on Opening Day 2018.
TLU's sophomore is now 8-0 over her last 10 starts, allowing just ten runs over 46.2 innings of work.Â
Singles from
Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek) (2-for-4, RBI, R, 2 SB)Â and
Riley Davila (Angleton/Angleton) (4-for-4, RBI, R, 2 SB) got the Bulldogs started in the first inning before
Serena Gonzalez (Corpus Christi/Foy H. Moody) (0-for-1, BB, RBI) stepped to the plate to hit a sac fly to score Clark and give TLU an early 1-0 lead.
The Bulldogs doubled their lead in the second as
Chesley Swisher (Cypress/Bridgeland) (1-for-2, RBI, R, SB) drove in
Ashley McMahon (Las Vegas/Durango) (1-for-3, 2 R, 2 SB) with an RBI single to left field.
Howard continued to deal through the Cru lineup over the next two frames. TLU doubled their lead again in the fourth with a two-run effort in the bottom of the inning as RBI singles from Clark and Davila scored McMahon and Swisher to give TLU a 4-0 lead.
Mia Landry (Cypress/Bridgeland) (1-for-4, RBI, 2B) drove in the Bulldogs fifth run in the fifth with an RBI double, scoring
Harleigh Russell (Fort Worth/Boswell). Russell (1-for-1, RBI, R, SB) drove in the Bulldogs final run of the game in the sixth with an RBI single.
TLU turned around in game two to put up 11 runs on eight hits. After a 1-2-3 first inning, the Bulldogs scored at least one run in every inning but the fifth. The Bulldogs stole 11 bases in game two led by three each from Clark, Davila, and
Brey Jones (San Antonio/Brennan).
Harleigh Russell scored the first run of game two going second to home on a fielder's choice. Jones caught the Crusaders defense sleeping as she was able to scamper home on a
Caelee Clark stolen base to extend the lead to 2-0 in the third. A sac fly from
Cady Bowyer (Fulshear/Jordan) and an RBI fielder's choice from
Natalie Pacheco (Lytle/Lytle) gave the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead after three innings.
Riley Davila drove in Jones with an RBI single to left field before a double steal between Davila and
Caelee Clark stretched the lead to 6-0 before the Cru got on the board in the fifth inning with three runs on three hits.
TLU put up five more runs in the sixth to bring the game to its run-rule conclusion. The Bulldogs would load the bases before scoring on a throwing error from the Crusaders pitcher.
Harleigh Russell would walk the game off with a inside the park grand slam to left field that never touched the outfield fence in what was an odd conclusion to Friday's contest.
Five Bulldogs recorded a hit in game two led by a 3-for-4 performance from Clark, a 2-for-4 showing from Davila, and 1-for-3 four-RBI game from Russell.
Jordyn Stuessy (Garden Ridge/Davenport), a transfer from Southern Illinois, earned her first win as a Bulldog, going 3.0 no-hit innings, striking out one and walking one.
Jordyn Joy (Kerrville/Tivy) made her return to the circle for the first time since early in the 2025 season and struck out two in 2.0 innings, giving up three runs on three hits.
Andrea Hataway (Port Lavaca/Calhoun) closed it out in the circle with a shutout inning of relief.
TLU opens SCACÂ play on Friday, Feb. 13, beginning a three-game series with McMurry. First pitch of Friday's doubleheader is scheduled for 4 PM. All three games will stream on FloCollege. 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).
