Waxahachie, TX | February 17, 2026 – The Nelson University Lady Lions defended home turf Tuesday afternoon at the Lions Athletic Complex, battling Dallas Christian College in a gritty doubleheader split.
Game one brought late drama. Game two brought dominance in the circle. And through it all, the Lady Lions continued to show growth and fight.
Game One
The opener was a back-and-forth chess match that tightened late.
Dallas Christian capitalized on a three-run sixth inning to pull ahead, edging Nelson 4–3
The Lady Lions kept swinging to the final out, plating runs in the first, fourth, and seventh innings to stay within striking distance.
Parker Kittrell sparked the offense with a triple and scored twice, while Cadence Hopgood drove in two runs to keep Nelson in the hunt
Elena Mendez added an RBI, and the Lions worked six walks to pressure the Crusaders' pitching staff.
In the circle, Mendez battled through 5.2 innings against a disciplined Dallas Christian lineup. Though the Lady Lions came up just short, the energy never dipped.
Game Two
If game one was tension-filled, game two was controlled and composed.
Behind a dominant performance from Valerie Guzman, the Lady Lions blanked Dallas Christian 2–0. Guzman tossed a complete-game shutout, allowing just two hits over seven innings while facing 24 batters. The breakthrough came in the third inning when Layla Oliver and Trista Ford delivered RBI swings to give Nelson the 2–0 edge
The defense handled the rest. Clean fielding. Timely outs. No mistakes.
Marcella Bryan added two hits at the plate, and the Lady Lions out-hit Dallas Christian 8–2 in the finale. Statement response. The Lady Lions answered adversity with execution, capped by a shutout that set the tone moving forward.
Next Up
The Lady Lions hit the road for Sooner Athletic Conference play:
February 27 (Fri)
2:00 PM & 4:00 PM (DH)
Goodwell, OK
Oklahoma Panhandle State University
Nelson University (formerly SA GU) is a private Christian university, established in 1927 by P.C. Nelson. The University is located 30 minutes south of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Waxahachie, Texas, and offers more than 70 associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees on campus or online. For more information, visit www.nelson.edu or by calling 1-888-YES-NELSON.
