Posted: May 30, 2021
(Story courtesy of Texas Lutheran Athletic Communications)
SALEM, Va. -- The Texas Lutheran Bulldogs will play for a second consecutive NCAA Division III Softball National Championship after dispatching Birmingham-Southern College 9-1 in five innings Sunday in the championship's semifinal round.
TLU (35-4) will face either Virginia Wesleyan or DePauw (Ind.) in the best 2-of-3 finals series.
The Bulldogs are the defending national champions after winning the first NCAA DIII team title in school history in 2019. The 2020 championships were cancelled due to the pandemic.
The finals series begins Monday with the first championship game, set for a 2 p.m. central start (3 p.m. eastern). The second championship game and the "if necessary" third game are scheduled for 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. central in Salem.
Against BSC, Rebecca Snow and Haley Padilla each hit solo home runs in the first and second innings, respectively, to stake the Bulldogs to an early lead. For Snow, the home run was her fifth of the season and ninth of her Bulldog career. For Padilla, the home run added to her school records for single-season and career home runs. Sunday's homer was the 11th of her 2021 campaign and the 23rd of her career.
TLU broke the game open with a five-run third. Skylar Ouellette singled through the left side to score Kelly Jurden, and Sarah Metzer just missed a grand slam to left field with two-run double off the top of the wall.
Chassey Raines made it 7-0 TLU with a two-run single to right-center field.
TLU put the game in run-rule territory with an Ouellette RBI double down the third-base line, and a McKay Bloxham single to left-center.
Ouellette went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. Casey Martin and Snow each scored two runs.
Ashlyn Strother (12-1) went the distance for TLU. The All-American right-hander worked out of a jam in the first inning and settled down to allow just a fifth-inning run. She struck out four and did not walk a batter.
