Bulldogs Take Series in Shreveport

SHREVEPORT, LA -- The No. 8 Texas Lutheran softball team (13-0, 7-0 SCAC) claimed the series over Centenary with a pair of victories Friday night at CC Softball Complex in Shreveport. The Bulldogs won game one 6-1 before following with a 4-3 win in game two.

A three-run sixth inning broke things open for TLU in game one with Linzee Leal (Corpus Christi/Mary Carroll), Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek) and Chesley Swisher (Cypress/Bridgeland) all driving in runs.

Senior Amanda White (Lockhart/Lockhart) was once again a force in the circle, allowing just one run on four hits and four walks in six innings with five strikeouts. White is now 5-0 on the year. Ainsley Davis (Rockwall/Jesuit (OR)) came in to finish the game allowing just a lone walk in the final inning.

Six Bulldogs registered a hit in the game with Linzee Leal driving in two runs, Clark, Swisher, and Serena Gonzalez (Corpus Christi/Foy H. Moody) all recorded one RBI. Tavery Ortiz (Texas City/Texas City) recorded her fourth multi-hit game of the young season going 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

Centenary scored the first run of the day in the first inning and held the lead until a throwing error from former Bulldog catcher Abby Touchet led to the Bulldogs scoring their first run of the game in the fifth. Serena Gonzalez followed with an RBI single through the left side to score Annie Kay (Sinton/Sinton) to give the Bulldogs the lead.

TLU pushed three across in the sixth starting with an RBI double from Leal followed by RBI singles from Caelee Clark and Chesley Swisher. An RBI fielder's choice from Leal in the seventh would score the final run of the game.

Texas Lutheran won a competitive second game, 4-3. The Ladies took the Bulldogs the full seven innings and played them into just their second one-run game of the season.

TLU jumped out to an early lead with an RBI fielder's choice from Kylee Jack (Richwood/Brazoswood) and a sacrifice fly from Missy Muras (La Grange/La Grange) in the first. Centenary responded with two runs across the second and third innings to tie the game at 2-all.

With two runners in scoring position in the fourth, Harleigh Russell (Fort Worth/Boswell) gave the Bulldogs the lead by stealing home. An RBI double from Serena Gonzalez plated the run that would prove to be the difference in the fifth.

Gonzalez paced the Bulldogs at the plate in the second game, going 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Junior Katelyn Howard (Waller/Hempstead) collected the victory in game two with a 4-inning, three strikeout performance. Howard allowed two runs on three hits and five walks. Davis came in to close for the second straight game, earning her first save of the season by going 3.0 innings and allowing one unearned run on three hits and a walk.

Texas Lutheran returns to the field Saturday afternoon in Shreveport for the final game of the series at CC Softball Complex. First pitch is set for 12 PM. All streaming and live stats links available 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).