SEGUIN, Texas - No. 1 seed Texas Lutheran defeated No. 2 seed Trinity 3-0 on Sunday afternoon to claim their first SCAC Championship. The title is not only the program's first SCAC Title, but the first conference championship ever won by the Bulldogs. Box Score | Official Tournament Website | Wade Wilson (TLU) Postgame Interview | Jennifer Gallagher (TLU) Postgame Interview | Samantha Yenne (TLU) Postgame Interview | Brandi Crnkovic (TU) Postgame Interview
Trinity looked to jump out to the early lead, loading the bases up with two away, but starting pitcher Kimberly Leschber got out of the inning with a strikeout to keep the game scoreless.
Neither team could get anything going early on until the Bulldogs came to the plate in the bottom of the third. Ashley Jacobsen reached on a walk followed by back to back singles from Jacquelyn Brown and Grace Estes.
Taylor Yancey then came to the plate and singled through the right side to bring home a run and take a 1-0 lead.
It seemed as though Trinity was going to get out of the inning after getting two quick outs, but Jennifer Gallagher belted a double in the left center gap to score two and extend the lead to 3-0.
Leschber cruised through the fourth to keep the Bulldogs in complete control. After a leadoff double by Mackenzie Hill, the Bulldogs turned to their bullpen and brought in Samantha Yenne in relief for the second time this tournament.
Yenne got an out via sacrifice bunt and followed that up with a pair of groundouts to keep the shutout intact.
From there, Yenne cruised to her second save of the season as Texas Lutheran walked away with the SCAC Title.
Leschber pitched four complete innings, allowing only one hit while striking out one. Yenne threw three innings of perfect softball to close the door shut on the Tigers.
Brown was the only Bulldog with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 on the day with a run scored. For Trinity, Sarah Paller had two of the Tigers four hits.
Texas Lutheran had won two Western Division Titles in their time with the American Southwest; however, they never did win the ASC Championship. A program that started in 1989, the Bulldogs were never able to win any sort of conference championship before today.
The Bulldogs are the first team to sweep through the SCAC Championship since DePauw in 2011. They are the 10th team to go undefeated in the Championship since tournament play began in 1999.
Texas Lutheran now stands at 32-7 and will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. The announcement of where they will be with be on Monday, May 5th at 9 a.m. CST.
At the end of the tournament, the conference office announced the 2014 Softball All-Tournament Team. Below is the team that was selected:
C - Caitlynn Dykes, Jr., Trinity
1B - Taylor Yancey, So., Texas Lutheran
2B - Ashley Jacobsen, Jr., Texas Lutheran
SS - Grace Estes, So., Texas Lutheran
3B - Sarah Paller, Fr., Trinity
OF - Molly Gorrie, Sr., Texas Lutheran
OF - Mallory Rossmann, Sr., Austin College
OF - Linsay Biggers, Jr., Southwestern
DP - Jennifer Gallagher, So., Texas Lutheran
UT - Avery Finch, Fr., OF, Dallas
P - Taylor Grissom, So., Texas Lutheran
P - Samantha Yenne, Fr., Texas Lutheran
P - Cozette Palmer, Fr., Southwestern