SAN ANTONIO, Texas – After posting another stellar conference mark (19-2) and winning the program’s ninth straight regular season title, Texas Lutheran University was rewarded with a sweep of the league’s four major awards in exclusive 2023 All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) voting by the league’s head coaches. Complete Release
The Bulldogs have the second most wins (35) of any Division III program heading into this weekend’s conference tournament and are currently ranked fifth in the nation by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).
Caelee Clark was selected as the SCAC Player-of-the-Year and, for the third consecutive season, teammate Ashlyn Strother was named the conference’s Pitcher-of-the-Year. Serena Gonzalez was voted SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year while the TLU Staff, led by head coach Wade Wilson, was named the SCAC Staff-of-the-Year.
Clark, a first-year second baseman from Montgomery, Texas, is currently ranked in the top 10 in almost every statistical category heading into this weekend’s conference tournament. She leads the league in runs scored (53), stolen bases (61), walks (27) and on-base percentage (.541), while her 53 hits are currently tied for first and her .445 batting average ranks second. Historically, her 61 stolen bases is currently tied for the second most all-time in a single season, while her 27 walks is tied for third and 53 runs scored sits seventh in a single SCAC season. Clark has registered a hit in 31 of her 39 games played, recorded 16 multi-hit efforts and from March 24th to April 14th orchestrated an impressive 14-game hit streak. In a win over Southwestern on April 5th, Clark tied the SCAC single-game record with six steals. She is the first first-year athlete to win SCAC Player-of-the-Year honors since Dallas’ Jade Miller shared the honor with TLU’s Kaymee Gooden back in 2017.
Clark is the eighth different Texas Lutheran student athlete in the last nine years to earn SCAC Player-of-the-Year honors. Her selection marks the ninth consecutive year a TLU player has won or shared the award. Clark received four first-place votes in the SCAC Player-of-the-Year balloting, while senior outfielders Danielle Pedraza of Schreiner and Kaylea Patridge of Centenary each received two votes apiece.
Strother, a senior right-hander from Seabrook, Texas heads into this weekend’s SCAC Tournament with a sparkling 16-1 record. In addition to being tied for first in the SCAC in wins, she currently leads the league in ERA (0.53) having allowed just eight earned runs in 105.1 (fourth in the SCAC) innings of work. She also leads the conference in strikeouts with 112 and is second with 13 complete games. Her ERA currently ranks third among all of Division III and would rank the lowest in a single season in SCAC history. During her tenure in Seguin, Strother currently possesses the best winning percentage of any pitcher in league history (.954 – 62-3) and her career 0.88 ERA ranks tops in league history. Her 62 career wins is third all-time, while her 458 strikeouts are good enough for sixth in league history.
Strother joins Erin Mulvey of Trinity (2005-2007), Megan Soultz of DePauw (2008-2010) and Taylor Grissom of Texas Lutheran (2014-16) as the only pitchers in conference history to win POTY award three consecutive years. She picked up six first-place votes in the balloting with St. Thomas’ Bailey Tisdale receiving the final two first-place votes.
Gonzalez, a first-year designated hitter from Corpus Christi, Texas, made her power presence felt immediately in the lineup for the Bulldogs. She is currently batting .441 (third in the SCAC) and leads the SCAC with 51 RBI, 10 home runs and a .814 slugging percentage. Her .508 on-base percentage ranks third in the league, while her 16 drawn walks is tied for sixth and her 45 hits sits seventh. She collected a hit in 30 of her 39 games, including a 14-game hit streak from February 15th to March 12th and registered 12 multi-hit efforts this season. Nationally, her 51 RBI are currently tied for sixth in all of Division III and entering the SCAC Tournament the total is tied for the sixth-most in a single season in league history. Her 10 home runs are the most by a first-year since Amy Hallett of DePauw smashed 10 in 2010, just two shy of the first-year record of 12 set by Stefanie Faith of Austin College in 2008. The 10 bases clearing drives are currently tied for the 10th best single season output in SCAC history. Gonzalez earned NFCA National Player-of-the-Week honors – as well as SCAC Player-of-the-Week honors – for games played the week of April 3-9 after batting .714 with three extra base hits, four walks, two runs scored and eight RBI in a three-game sweep of Southwestern. She is the fourth different Bulldogs to earn SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year accolades and the first since Casey Martin was honored back in 2019.
Gonzalez received five votes in the balloting for SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year. First-year utility player Chloe Bennett of St. Thomas secured two votes, while first-year second baseman Catherine Stokes of Centenary picked up the remaining vote.
After guiding the Bulldogs to a ninth consecutive SCAC regular season crown and the No. 1 overall seed heading into this weekend’s conference tournament, the Texas Lutheran coaching staff was selected as the SCAC Staff-of-the-Year. Head coach Wade Willson, who is in his 12th season at TLU and has guided this program to another regular season championship this season after successfully leading the Bulldogs to SCAC regular season and tournament championships in each of the team’s previous eight years in the conference. This year’s squad earned its ninth regular season title with a 19-2 conference mark and is currently ranked fifth in the nation with a 35-4 record. Over the last 11 years, few head coaches have been as successful as Wilson. Since joining the SCAC prior to the 2014 season, he has led the Bulldogs to an overall record of 417-83 and an incredible 192-5 conference mark, winning SCAC games at a .975 clip. The 192 SCAC victories are the most by any coach in league history. This is the eighth SCAC Staff-of-the-Year (Coach) honor for Wilson and ninth overall as he was honored by the ASC in 2013 before earning the award in eight of the last nine seasons in the SCAC.
2023 SCAC Player-of-the-Year
Caelee Clark Texas Lutheran Fy. 2B Montgomery, Texas
2023 SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year
Ashlyn Strother Texas Lutheran Sr. P Seabrook, Texas
2023 SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year
Serena Gonzalez Texas Lutheran Fy. DH Corpus Christi, Texas
2023 SCAC Staff-of-the-Year
Wade Wilson Texas Lutheran 19-2 SCAC / 35-4 overall / NFCA #5 ranking
To view the entire 2023 All-SCAC Softball Team, click here.
