DENTON, Texas (April 24, 2024) – The Texas Woman's softball team began their final series of the 2024 regular season with a victory at Dianne Baker Field.

TWU (24-27, 22-18) defeated St. Edward's (17-33, 15-25) on Wednesday night, 2-0.

In the win, Alyssa LeBlanc (15-11) put on a master class. She faced 24 batters and struck out 12, marking her ninth double-digit strikeout game this season. With her 12 strikeouts on the night, she currently sits just 22 strikeouts away from reaching 1,000 strikeouts in her career.  Additionally, LeBlanc leads the Lone Star Conference in strikeouts on the season with 216.

Against St. Edward's, LeBlanc only allowed one hit – her third game this season allowing just one hit.

In the bottom of the first inning, Hawwa Townsend recorded the first hit of the night for TWU with a single up the middle. Despite opening the offense, the Pioneers went the first two innings with no runs on the board; nevertheless, TWU remained strong on defense to hold the Hilltoppers at zero runs as well.

TWU broke through on offense in the third inning off the bat of Townsend, who led the Pioneers with two hits on the night.

Delaney Boley opened the third inning with a walk to get on base. Despite Boley getting out at second, Vivica Hernandez was able to reach first on the fielder's choice to keep one runner on base for TWU. With Hernandez on first, Callie Bailey drew the second walk of the inning to put Hernandez in scoring position.

On a heads-up play, Bailey stole second base, and Hernandez stole third base to put two runners in scoring position for the Pioneers. Then, Townsend stepped up to the plate and connected on a single to right field to record two RBIs on the night, as Bailey and Hernandez both scored.

The two runs scored in the third for TWU would be the deciding runs, as the Pioneers would go on to win the game 2-0.

TWU finished the night with four hits, as LeBlanc and Piper Morton both recorded singles in the bottom of the sixth inning. Townsend led TWU with two hits.

The Pioneers also finished with three stolen bases – one each from Hernandez, Bailey and Ciana Rodriguez. Rodriguez currently leads TWU with nine stole bases on the season.

The Hilltoppers finished with just one hit and an error.

"I am proud of our team for getting the win tonight," said TWU Head Softball Coach Gay McNutt. "Alyssa LeBlanc threw another great game, and she had a great defense backing her up tonight. We know will have to hit better tomorrow to record two more wins, and I look forward to seeing our team continue to grow and step up. We're ready to show our fans some exciting offense tomorrow."

TWU will close out the regular season tomorrow with a doubleheader against St. Edward's at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at Dianne Baker Field. The Pioneers will also celebrate their six seniors – Boley, Kate Franz, Alexys Ginegaw, LeBlanc, Jalee McDonald and Makana Morton – after the 3 p.m. game.