(Story Courtesy of Texas Lutheran University Sports Information Department)
MARSHALL, Texas -- No. 8 Texas Lutheran softball's season came to an end Saturday afternoon at the NCAA Division-III Marshall Regional, falling to Belhaven, 2-1, in the regional championship.
Texas Lutheran (40-8) fell behind early after the Blazers (32-11) scored two runs in the bottom of the second.
The Bulldogs would begin to chip away in the fifth inning as senior Laura Hernandez hit a solo home run, her second of the regional, sixth of the season, and 12th of her career, to cut the lead in half.
As the Bulldogs time began to run out and outs became numbered, senior Bailey Hudgeons stepped to the plate and hit a leadoff double down the left field line to start the seventh inning. Freshman Harleigh Russell would pinch-run for the senior and advance to third on a wild pitch, but that's where the Bulldogs rally would end, stranding Russell to end the season.
Ashlyn Strother got the start in the circle for the Bulldogs and would go two innings - allowing two runs on three hits. Sydney Ouellette relieved her in the third and dominated for the majority of her outing - only allowing three hits in 3.1 shutout innings out of the bullpen. Amanda White would come in in relief to record the final two outs for the Bulldogs.
Laura Hernandez, Bailey Hudgeons and Madison Johnson were named to the All-Tournament Team.
This season marked the ninth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division-III Softball Tournament in program history, a year that also saw Texas Lutheran claim its ninth straight Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) regular season championship. TLU reached the 40-win threshold for the fourth time in program history and the third time in four complete seasons. As a team, the 2023 TLU softball team set the program record for walks (175), thirteen more than the previous record set last season.
Individually, All-Region freshman Serena Gonzalez broke the program's freshman home run record with 10 home runs and established the program's RBI record with 57 RBIs on the season. Caelee Clark set the program's single-game stolen base record (6), single-season walks record (31), and freshman stolen base record (66). Ashlyn Strother set the program record for career wins (65).
The Bulldogs - a team picked to finish first in the SCAC preseason poll - conclude the 2023 season with a 40-8 record, going 19-2 in the SCAC to claim their ninth straight SCAC regular season championship. The Bulldogs will graduate three seniors - Laura Hernandez, Bailey Hudgeons and Kristen Williams. This group of seniors graduates with a career record of 140-21, claiming NCAA Runner-Up in 2021, a national third place finish in 2022, and claiming three SCAC Championships together. We thank them for all of their contributions to the Texas Lutheran softball program.
