SEGUIN, Texas -- No. 5 Texas Lutheran ran past Hendrix College, winning 8-0 in six innings and 11-0 in five innings for their 12th and 13th run-rule victories of the season in Friday's doubleheader at Ed Kruse Stadium.
The Bulldogs (29-3, 21-1 SCAC) won their 50th SCAC game of their last 52 conference games. With the wins, Texas Lutheran won their 83rd straight SCAC conference series, dating back to joining the conference in 2014.
Senior
Katelyn Howard (Waller/Hempstead) won her 16th game of the season in the circle in game one, throwing a five-hit shutout with three strikeouts and no walks. It was TLU's 15th shutout of the season.
After stranding runners in scoring position in the first two innings, the Bulldogs, the national leader in sacrifice flies, got on the board via a sacrifice fly from
Taylor Vannett (Kingwood/Kingwood), the NCAA Division-III individual leader in the category.
TLU put up two more runs on four hits in the fifth as
Chesley Swisher (Cypress/Bridgeland) stole home and
Riley Davila (Angleton/Angleton) advanced to score on a second double steal attempt.
The bats came alive in the sixth inning with the Bulldogs plating five runs on five hits. After a leadoff single from
Ashley McMahon (Las Vegas, NV/Durango), junior
Cady Bowyer (Fulshear/Jordan) hit an RBI double off the centerfield wall.
Michelle Torralba (Eagle Pass/Eagle Pass), who pinch ran for Bowyer, scored on a sacrifice fly from
Natalie Pacheco (Lytle/Lytle). After flipping the lineup over, Vannett hit a two-RBI single to put the game on the verge of run-rule territory.
Gabree-Ella Orosco (San Antonio/Holmes) pinch ran for Vannett before
Serena Gonzalez (Corpus Christi/Foy H. Moody) walked the game off in run-rule fashion on a RBI double to right center.
The game marked the third time this season the Bulldogs have recorded double-digit stolen bases in a single contest, matching their season-high of 13 that was previously done against Bethel on March 19.
Vannett paced the team with a 3-for-3, three RBI showing while seven Bulldogs recorded a hit in the game and four brought in a run. Davila finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a team-high three stolen bases while
Chesley Swisher was 2-for-2 with two runs scored.
Texas Lutheran rolled to a 11-0 win in five innings in game two, clinching the series over the Warriors in run-rule fashion.
Game two was highlighted by a four-hit shutout by the TLU pitching staff and an eight run third inning from the offense.
An RBI double from Gonzalez got the Bulldogs on the board in the first.
Howard, who started Friday's second game as well, stranded a runner in the second, the Bulldogs scored on a bases loaded walk to
Chesley Swisher before
Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek) hit a sacrifice fly to score
Harleigh Russell (Fort Worth/Boswell).
TLU plated eight runs on six hits in the fourth. Bowyer led off the inning with a stand up triple down the right field line before the Bulldogs used small to load the bases. A bases loaded walk to Pacheco followed by a hit by pitch to Swisher added two more runs. Clark ripped a two-RBI single to score a pair for the Bulldogs as the Warriors still sought the first out of the inning. After reloading the bases, Vannett drew a bases loaded walk to officially put the game into run-rule territory. Also in the inning,
Serena Gonzalez hit an RBI single and
Cady Bowyer capped the scoring with a two-RBI single.
Jordyn Stuessy (Garden Ridge/Davenport) and
Jamie Burch (Sinton/Sinton) finished the game with a scoreless inning each out of the bullpen.
Howard improved her ERA to 0.53 with her Division-III leading 17th win of the season in the circle, allowing just two hits in three innings.
Seven Bulldogs registered a hit in the game with six bringing in a run. Clark, Gonzalez, Bowyer, and Russell all tied for the team lead with two hits with Clark driving in a team-high three runs.
The Bulldogs are outscoring the Warriors 19-0 in the first two games of the series and outhitting Hendrix 24-9 to go with 17 stolen bases.
The series finale is scheduled for 11 AM on Saturday at Ed Kruse Stadium. The series finale will be streamed 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).
