SEGUIN, Texas -- No. 3 Texas Lutheran Softball (21-3) took game one against No. 17 Tufts (11-3), 3-1, before their comeback attempt fell just short in game two, concluding the 2026 TLU Invitational with a 7-6 loss to the Jumbos on Friday at Ed Kruse Stadium.
The Bulldogs finished the TLU Invitational with a 5-1 record and picked up their fourth Top 25 victory of the season in the process. In total, the Bulldogs are 4-3 against Top 25 teams so far this season.
Sophomore
Jordyn Joy (Kerrville/Tivy) took center stage in the highly anticipated matchup, allowing one run on six hits and one hit by pitch to the Jumbos lineup.Â
The top of the Bulldogs lineup shined once again in Friday's first contest. Following a pair of singles from
Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek) and
Riley Davila (Angleton/Angleton), senior
Serena Gonzalez (Corpus Christi/Foy H. Moody) doubled down the right field line to score Clark for the first run of the game. A sacrifice fly from
Cady Bowyer (Fulshear/Jordan) tacked on another run for the Bulldogs as they took a 2-0 lead after the first inning.
Tufts cut the lead in half in the top of the second inning courtesy of an RBI double.
The teams traded donuts through the middle part of what was a playoff level contest on Friday before the Bulldogs were able to put another insurance run on the board in the sixth.
Harleigh Russell (Fort Worth/Boswell) hit a one-out double before stealing third and scoring on a Tufts error to bring the final to 3-1, Texas Lutheran.
Joy collected her fifth win of the season. Clark and Davila led the Bulldog bats with both finishing 2-for-3 with two stolen bases and a run scored.
Texas Lutheran put up two runs in the sixth and got the tying run on base in the sixth and seventh innings but Tufts was able to hold off the late push from the Bulldogs in their final game of the week.
Tufts used a pair of singles to take a 3-0 lead in the first inning as the Jumbos scored three runs on four hits to start Friday's second contest.
Chesley Swisher (Cypress/Bridgeland) dropped an RBI bunt single to get TLU on the board in the second inning.
The Jumbos did more damage in the third with three runs including a two-run homer to take a 6-1 lead.
A two-run homer from
Natalie Pacheco (Lytle/Lytle) got two of the runs back in the bottom of the inning.
Tufts added an insurance run that would prove to be the difference in the fifth on a solo homer.
Ashley McMahon (Las Vegas, NV/Durango) scored on a failed double steal attempt, but cut the Jumbos lead to 7-4. TLU continued to chip away, scoring two more runs on a two-RBI double from Pacheco in the sixth but would end the inning still trailing by one. TLU made two quick outs in the seventh before getting a runner on but were thrown out trying to move the runner into scoring position to end the game.
Freshman
Sophie Donalson (Bellaire/Bellaire) tossed two shutout innings in relief, allowing just one hit.
Four Bulldogs turned in multi-hit performances with Pacheco leading the way with a 3-for-4 performance including a double, a homer, and four RBI. McMahon, Swisher, and
Brey Jones (San Antonio/Brennan) all added two hits.
Texas Lutheran shifts its focus back to Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) play for a three-game series with Schreiner at Ed Kruse Stadium, March 27-28. First pitch of Friday's single-game is scheduled for 5 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).
