SEGUIN, Texas --
Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek) is the new stolen base queen of Division-III college softball.
In front of the home crowd at Ed Kruse Stadium, Clark stole bases No. 246 and 247 to tie and break the record set by former TLU Bulldog Kelly Jurden (246, 2018-22) to become the NCAA Division-III career stolen base leader. Clark is the fastest player to reach 247 bases in NCAA history - regardless of level - as Jurden reached 246 bases in 200 games while Clark passed her in just her 149th career game. Only two players remain in front of Clark all-time across all levels, North Dakota State's Nikki Flynn-Gregg who stole 250 bases in 285 games and Georgia's Nicole Barber who is the NCAA's all-time stolen base leader with 257 in 278 games.
Clark, the current national leader in stolen bases for the 2026 season with 31 stolen bases, like Kelly Jurden before her stole the historic base in the bottom of the fourth inning in game against WashU. Clark went 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored for the game.
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In a first-time matchup between two of the nations top ten teams, No. 3 Texas Lutheran (13-2) took game one against the previously undefeated No. 6 WashU Bears (11-1) 8-5 before falling in game two 7-1.
The Bulldogs were led by a 3-for-4, two RBI effort from Taylor Vannett (Kingwood/Kingwood). Serena Gonzalez (Corpus Christi/Foy H. Moody) and Harleigh Russell (Fort Worth/Boswell) also drove in runs for the Bulldogs while Caelee Clark and Riley Davila (Angleton/Angleton) both scored twice in game one.
Texas Lutheran trailed 2-0 after the top of the first inning but quickly took the led in the bottom of the frame, registering six runs on two hits and four WashU errors. Clark extended her hit streak to six games with a lead off single before tying the previous NCAA record of 246 stolen bases to get the Bulldogs offense going. Sacrifice flies from Gonzalez and Russell gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead before the Bulldogs continued to take advantage of defensive miscues from the Bears to the tune of six runs.
RBI singles in the fourth and sixth inning from Taylor Vannett would be responsible for the Bulldogs final runs of the game.
Katelyn Howard (Waller/Hempstead) tossed her nation-leading eighth complete game of the season as she improved to 10-0 on the season. Howard allowed five runs (three earned) on 11 hits while striking out four on Wednesday.
An RBI fielder's choice from Caelee Clark got the Bulldogs on the board first in game two but the Bears would respond with two runs of their own in the top of the third to take a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the evening. The Beard plated five more runs in the fifth and seventh innings to take the top ten matchup, 7-1, and avoid the sweep.
Four Bulldogs were responsible for the Bulldogs four hits in game two.
Three TLU pitchers saw time in the circle in the game, with starter Jordyn Joy (Kerrville/Tivy) (2-1) taking the loss in her third start of the season. The loss is her first in her career over seven appearances the last two seasons. Freshman Sophie Donalson (Bellaire/Bellaire) tossed two innings while sophomore Jordyn Stuessy (Garden Ridge/Davenport) provided 2.1 innings of relief.
The Bulldogs have a quick turnaround as they travel to Clarksville, Arkansas, to face Ozarks (AR) in a three-game series starting on Friday, March 13 as they shift their attention back to SCAC play. First pitch of Friday's doubleheader is scheduled for 3 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).
