No. 9 Bulldogs Ready for Marshall Regional

WEEKEND BASICS

• The 9th-ranked Bulldogs open postseason play with the Marshall, Texas Regional, May 16-18, hosted by #2 East Texas Baptist at Bell Park at Taylor Field. The Tigers play host to #9 TLU, Chapman, and Simmons.
• 2024 marks the tenth straight season the Bulldogs have made the NCAA Tournament, making the NCAA Tournament every season since joining the SCAC in 2014.
• TLU begins regional play vs. Chapman on Thursday at 2:30 PM. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com. With a win, TLU would meet the winner of East Texas Baptist vs. Simmons on Friday at 11 AM. The regional final will be Saturday at 11 AM with an if-necessary game later in the day.
• Tickets will be available at Bell Park at Taylor Field. Tournament Passes are available for $40, $25 for students, military, and senior citizens. Single game tickets will be $15 for adults, $10 for students, military, and senior citizens - children two and under are free per day.
• All tournament information can be found here.
• Texas Lutheran completed the SCAC title sweep two weekends ago in Seguin, claiming the program's 19th overall SCAC title (10 regular season titles and 9 tournament crowns). The Bulldogs have won 10 straight regular season titles.

MAYHEM

• Texas Lutheran has made the NCAA Tournament every year since joining the SCAC in 2014, all under head coach Wade Wilson (tournament was not played in 2020).
• Overall, Texas Lutheran is 19-12 (.613) in NCAA Regional play with three Regional championships.
• The Bulldogs are looking to make their third appearance in NCAA Super Regionals. All-time, TLU has competed in three Women's College World Series, earning a National Championship in 2019.

LAST TIME OUT

• For the ninth time in program history and the ninth time in the last ten conference championships, No. 9 Texas Lutheran was crowned champion of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship Tournament after defeating Trinity, 6-1, at Ed Kruse Stadium in Seguin.
• The win tallied Texas Lutheran's 19th overall conference title and the Bulldogs ninth SCAC title sweep in program history.

SEASON STORYLINES

• TLU is outscoring its opponents by a combined score of 250-58 on the season, surrendering an average of 1.71 runs per game. The pitching staff has tossed 12 shutouts on the season.
• The pitching staff has thrown three no-hitters on the season. Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls) threw two no-hitters in one weekend against Dallas, including a perfect game on March 22. Sydney Ouellette (Corpus Christi/Gregory-Portland) would throw her first career individual no-hitter against Centenary on April 12. The staff has thrown three games where an opponent has had just one hit.
• Strother leads the pitching staff with a 0.93 ERA.
• As a team, Texas Lutheran ranks sixth in NCAA Division-III in batting average (.373) and on-base percentage (.448) while leading the NCAA across all levels with 227 stolen bases. Texas Lutheran needs just four stolen bases to tie their NCAA stolen base record set in 2022 of 231 stolen bases as a team. Caelee Clark (Montgomery/Lake Creek) leads the nation with 84 stolen bases. The Bulldogs have three players that hit over .420 for the season with Clark hitting a team-high .479 while Madison Johnson (Round Rock/Round Rock) hit .425 to rank fifth in the SCAC and Annie Kay (Sinton/Sinton) hit .424 to rank sixth in the SCAC.

REGIONAL FOES

• Chapman: The Bulldogs and Panthers have met three times in the programs histories, all coming in the 2022 Seguin, Texas Regional with the Bulldogs sweeping the Panthers, 3-0. 
• Texas Lutheran outscored the Panthers 30-4 in the three-game sweep and out-hit them 33-17.
• Fun fact: Assistant Coach Sarah Metzer along with six members of the Bulldogs starting lineup were on the 2022 team.
• East Texas Baptist: The Tigers lead the all-time series vs. TLU, 14-6. The Bulldogs are 2-0 in games played in Marshall and 4-7 in postseason, going 4-4 against the Tigers in NCAA Tournament play.
• Most recently, TLU beat the Tigers 4-3 in last season's NCAA Marshall Regional.
• Fun fact: This is the third time TLU has been sent to Marshall for a Regional and the seventh time the Bulldogs and Tigers have been in the same regional.
• Simmons: This is a first-time matchup for the Bulldogs and Sharks. The Simmons University Sharks are back-to-back Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) champions.
• Fun fact: Entering this weekend, Simmons has never faced a Texas team in the program's history. 

THREE NAMED TO TUCCI/NFCA PLAYER AND PITCHER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST

• Three members of the Texas Lutheran softball team were named to the 2024 Tucci/NFCA Player and Pitcher of the Year Watch List in April.
• Sophomore Caelee Clark, junior Kylee Jack (Richwood/Brazoswood), and senior Ashlyn Strother represented TLU as three of 98 players named to the watch list.
• It marks the third time Strother has been named to the list, while its the second and first time respectively for Clark and Jack.

BULLDOGS PACE CONFERENCE IN YEARLY AWARDS

• Texas Lutheran softball collected three of the five SCAC yearly awards and placed eight across the All-SCAC First and Second Teams, including a league-best six on the first team.
• Sophomore Caelee Clark repeated as SCAC Player of the Year, while senior Ashlyn Strother earned her fourth consecutive Pitcher of the Year Award. Senior Sydney Ouellette became the SCAC's first two-time Softball Elite 19 winner.
• Clark collects TLU's tenth consecutive SCAC Player of the Year award, winning the award every year since joining the conference in 2014. Clark is the third athlete in SCAC Softball history to win multiple Player-of-the-Year honors, joining former member, DePauw University's Rachel Gill (2007, 2009) and former Bulldog Kelly Jurden (2019, 2021). She joins Jurden as the only other athlete to win the award in back-to-back seasons.
• The highlight-reel second baseman has started every game for No. 9 TLU and led the team throughout the season in batting average, hits, runs, triples, and stolen bases. The speedster has stolen an NCAA record 84 bases on 86 attempts and been exceptional at second base for TLU, turning seven double plays with a .965 fielding percentage. Clark ranked second in the conference in hits, runs, and on-base percentage. In conference only play, Clark paced the league in both hits with 39 and runs scored with 33. 
• Strother earned her fourth straight SCAC Pitcher of the Year honor. The honor is TLU's ninth since joining the SCAC and 11th overall since becoming an NCAA institution.
• Strother has followed up her third All-American season with yet another dominant campaign, holding a 0.89 ERA that ranks 10th in the country with eight shutouts - which ranks fifth nationally - one perfect game, and a no-hitter. The Seabrook, Texas, product is 19-0 in the circle and has allowed just 18 extra base hits in 2024. Strother has 129 strikeouts to just 11 walks and 14 earned runs, while opponents are batting just .177 against the senior. In conference play, Strother led the league in wins (11-0) while holding a 0.84 ERA and allowing just eight runs. Strother became the first pitcher in SCAC history to win Pitcher of the Year four times.
• Historically, Strother has cemented herself as one of the best to ever put on a SCAC jersey and step into the circle. During her tenure in Seguin, Strother currently possesses the best winning percentage of any pitcher in league history (.944 – 84-5) and her career 0.94 ERA ranks tops in league history. Her 84 career wins and 597 strikeouts are second all-time in league history. A 15-time SCAC Pitcher of the Week honoree during her career, Strother is just the sixth player and fifth pitcher in SCAC softball history to earn four First Team All-SCAC honors.
• Ouellette, a senior right-handed pitcher from Corpus Christi, Texas currently holds a cumulative GPA of 4.00 as a major in Business Administration (Master's in Accounting) and was named First Team All-SCAC on this year's all-conference softball team. She is the first two-time winner of the prestigious SCAC Elite 19 award in conference softball history, previously winning the award as a sophomore in 2022.
• Ouellette's honor is the fourth time a TLU Bulldog has received the accolade in program history. In addition to Ouellette's honor in 2022, Chassety Raines won in 2021 and DeAnna Hernandez took home the honor in 2020.
• Of the 12 student-athletes that made up the All-SCAC First Team, six of the selections were Bulldogs. The six selections outpaces the next-highest school by three. Claiming First Team honors was Clark, Strother, Ouellette, juniors Linzee Leal (Corpus Christi/Mary Carroll) and Kylee Jack, and sophomore Annie Kay.
• Seniors Reagan Hillis (Cedar Park/Cedar Park) and Madison Johnson brought TLU's All-SCAC total to eight with selections to the All-SCAC Second Team. Junior Tavery Ortiz (Texas City/Texas City) and sophomores Harleigh Russell (Fort Worth/Boswell) and Taylor Vannett (Kingwood/Kingwood) were named All-SCAC Honorable Mention.
• Strother earned her fourth First Team nod while Clark and Leal earned their second in as many years. The First Team honor is a first for Ouellette, now a four-time All-SCAC honoree, while the honors were a first for Jack and Kay. Johnson and Hillis repeat on the All-SCAC Second Team, the third honor for Johnson and the second in as many years for Hillis. The All-SCAC honors are the first for Ortiz, Russell, and Vannett.

THE CAE WAY

• Texas Lutheran second baseman Caelee Clark has showcased her versatility and dependability for the Bulldogs since she stepped foot on campus as a freshman in 2023 and her productivity from the leadoff spot has been pivotal to the Bulldogs success.
• Clark has started and hit in the leadoff spot in every game for the Bulldogs over the last two seasons, with the Bulldogs being 71-5 over that span.
• The speedy leadoff has built off a freshman campaign that saw her showcase her ability to get on base, setting a SCAC record with 31 walks while setting a TLU freshman record with 66 stolen bases - earning Second Team All-American honors in the process - to increase her productivity at the plate as a sophomore. Clark has raised her batting average over 70 points, hitting .479 this season compared to .407 as a freshman and her on-base percentage by over 50 points, reaching base at a .537 clip.
• The Second Team All-American paces TLU in batting average (.479), hits (58), triples (3), runs (47), and stolen bases (84-86). She ranks in the top 30 nationally in stolen bases (1st), batting average (29th), and runs per game (8th).

#INASHWETRUST

• Texas Lutheran senior right-hander Ashlyn Strother has followed up a Second Team All-American season with another stellar season.
• The four-time SCAC Pitcher of the Year, Strother has paced TLU's pitching staff with 129 strikeouts and a 0.89 ERA, allowing opponents to bat just .177. Strother has a team-best eight shutouts in 2024. The Seabrook, Texas, native has also thrown one perfect game and a no-hitter this season.
• In Strother's last ten appearances (8-0, 47.2 IP), she's allowed just six runs, 31 hits with 38 K's to four walks.
• Strother ranks fifth nationally in shutouts (8), fourth in WHIP (0.72) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (11.73), and 12th in wins (19).
• Strother, who has been dominant throughout her career, is TLU's all-time leader in: wins (84), win percentage (.944), ERA (0.94), strikeouts (597), and perfect games (2).

#STOLENBASEU

• As TLU paced the country in stolen bases six of the last seven seasons (NCAA record 231 stolen bases 2022), the Bulldogs are off to another scorching pace in 2024, having stolen 227 bases, leading the NCAA across all three divisions in total stolen bases and stolen bases per game (6.68).
• In 2024, the Bulldogs have stolen a base in every game and stolen at least three bases in 31 of 34 games. Texas Lutheran stole a season-high 15 bases against Centenary on April 12.
• Individually, four Bulldogs have stolen double-digit bases and 16 out of 27 active non-pitchers have stolen at least one base. Caelee Clark paces the nation with a Division-III record 84 stolen bases while Linzee Leal and Annie Kay rank 15th in Division-III with 37 stolen bases.
• Eight Bulldogs have a multi-stolen base game this season.

MORE NOTES AND NUMBERS

• Texas Lutheran has won 152 of its last 175 games (.869 win%) dating back to the start of the 2021 season.
• Of those 175 games, 63 have been via run-rule (36%).
• TLU's defense ranks fifth in Division-III with a .977 fielding percentage, committing 21 errors on the season. The defense has turned nine double plays on the season.
• Texas Lutheran has outhit its opponents in 26 of 34 games this season, and in the eight games they didn't outhit the opposition, the Bulldogs are 5-3.
• TLU has been exceptional hitting with a runner on third with less than two outs in 2024, hitting 84-of-118 (.712) on the season. The team is batting .344 with two outs, led by Caelee Clark's .478 average with two away, with Kylee Jack following closely behind at .444.

CONFERENCE DOMINANCE

• After a 19-2 run in the regular season in regular season SCAC play, the Bulldogs clinched their 10th straight conference regular season crown in 2024 and ninth SCAC Tournament title two weeks ago.
• TLU outscored conference foes 170-34. The pitching staff held a 1.48 ERA in conference play and tossed shutouts in nine of TLU's 21 league games.
• The program holds a conference record of 211-7 and has not lost a SCAC series since joining the conference in 2014, winning 65 consecutive conference series - finishing first in the conference every season.
• Overall, the Bulldogs have 19 SCAC titles with 10 regular season crowns and nine SCAC tournament championships, all under head coach Wade Wilson.

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).