(Story Courtesy of Texas Lutheran University Sports Information Department)
SALEM, Va. -- No. 2 Texas Lutheran softball's season came to an end Sunday afternoon at the Division-III Women's College World Series, falling to No. 1 Christopher Newport, 4-3 in nine innings, in the semifinal round.
Texas Lutheran (45-6) fell behind early after the Captains (45-1) scored three runs in the bottom of the third, all with two outs following a Texas Lutheran error.
The Bulldogs would begin to chip away in the fifth inning as senior Kelly Jurden drove in Riley Futrell on an RBI single.
As the Bulldogs time to began to run out and outs became numbered senior Sarah Metzer stepped to the plate and hit a two-out two-RBI double that scored Bailey Hudgeons and Lexi Coward to tie the game three-all through six innings.
The Bulldogs and Captains traded zeroes until the ninth inning when the Captains hit a leadoff walk off home run to win the game and bring the Bulldogs record breaking season to a close.
Sophomore pitcher Sydney Ouellette got the start in the circle for the Bulldogs and would go 4.2 innings - allowing three runs (all earned) on five hits, striking out one batter. Junior Amanda White relieved her in the fifth and dominated for the majority of her outing - striking out four batters and only allowing two hits in 3.1 innings out of the bullpen.
This season marked the third consecutive trip to the Division-III Women's College World Series in program history, a year that also saw Texas Lutheran claim its eighth straight Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) regular and postseason championships, make its eighth straight NCAA regional appearance and second consecutive super regional appearance - hosting a Super Regional for the first time in program history. This was also a record breaking season for the Bulldogs, marking the third time they have eclipsed 40 wins with a program record 45 wins. As a team, the 2022 TLU softball team set program records for wins (45) and walks (162), extended their SCAC conference consecutive regular season win streak to 62 dating back to 2019, and set an NCAA team record for stolen bases with 231 stolen bases on the season.
Individually, All-American Kelly Jurden set the NCAA record for stolen bases in a season with 77 stolen bases, adding to her NCAA all-time career record of 246 stolen bases. She also set career marks in at-bats (621), runs scored (234), hits (260), walks (106), and surpassed the career stolen bases mark against Austin College on March 18. Ashlyn Strother, also an All-American, set the program record for wins in a season (25), matched Chassety Raines' 2019 win percentage record of 1.000 finishing the season a perfect 25-0, and matched Taylor Grissom's 2015 ERA record of 0.77.
The Bulldogs - a team picked to finish first in the SCAC preseason poll - conclude the 2022 season with a 45-6 record, going a perfect 21-0 in the SCAC to claim their eighth straight SCAC regular season and postseason championships in addition to winning both an NCAA Regional and Super Regional. The Bulldogs will graduate four seniors - Kelly Jurden, Casey Martin, Sarah Metzer, Chassety Raines. This group of seniors graduates with a career record of 140-21 and will graduate as some of the most decorated group of Texas Lutheran athletes ever - winning a 2019 National Championship, claiming NCAA Runner-Up in 2021, and claiming three SCAC Championships together. We thank them for all of their contributions to the Texas Lutheran softball program.
