HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. - The final season for seniors, Christa Reisinger and Lauren Dale, has begun, so plan on hearing their names quite a bit in the coming months. Those two led the Truman State University softball program to its first shutout victory in a season opener since 2015, before they had even stepped foot on campus. The Bulldogs defeated Ursuline, 4-0, in game one of Trevecca Nazarene's Music City Invitational on Friday afternoon in The Volunteer State.

The two-time GLVC Player of the Year, Reisinger, picked up right where she left off to set the tone on Friday with three hits in her four at-bats, two runs scored and an RBI. In the circle, Dale went the distance (32nd career complete game) for her sixth career shutout with just three hits allowed, two walks and six strikeouts. The right-handed hurler improved to 38-20 as a Bulldog.

To set that tone, Reisinger led off the game with a single, stole both second and third and then scored on a Morgan McMahan base knock. Two innings later, one of five freshmen or sophomores to start for Truman, Emma Walbert, brought in sophomore, Kayla Quanstrum, from second after her leadoff single. In the seventh, the Bulldogs tacked on two more runs for insurance purposes as Reisinger doubled in Brooke VunCannon (leadoff, pinch-hit single) and then later scored on a throwing error by the catcher.

Overall, Truman scored its four runs on nine hits, seven of which came from the first five spots in the order (7-for-17, .412 batting average). Dale didn't surrender her first hit until a one-out single in the third and didn't give up multiple hits in any single inning.

Next up, Truman will face Urbana (10 a.m.) and Tiffin (2 p.m.) on Saturday. The Bulldogs are in search of their first 2-0 start since 2014 and first 3-0 start since the season before that.

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