DAHLONEGA, Ga. – The Lady Railsplitters' (8-8) offense went dormant – compiling only six combined hits – in a pair of shutout losses on Saturday at the North Georgia Captain D's Surf & Turf Classic in Dahlonega, Ga.
Lincoln Memorial fell victim to a dazzling pitching performance in a 6-0 loss to the 11th-ranked North Georgia Nighthawks in the day's first game, while Wayne State scored a run in the top of the first and made it hold up in a 1-0 win over the Lady Railsplitters in game two.
Game One: No. 11 North Georgia 6, Lincoln Memorial 0 Junior pitcher Courtney Poole – the reigning Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Pitcher of the Week – dominated from start to finish on the mound, holding the Lady Railsplitters to just three hits with a season-high 14 strikeouts in the complete-game shutout.
Poole fanned six of the first seven Lincoln Memorial batters she faced before freshman catcher
Savannah Couch (Colonial Heights, Va.) broke through with a one-out single in the top of the third. That base knock would not result in a run, though, as the next batter struck out and Couch was thrown out attempting to steal second.
Nighthawk first baseman Kim McMillan provided nearly every bit of the offensive support for Poole, driving in five of North Georgia's six runs.
McMillan kicked off her 3-for-4 showing with a one-out, solo home run in the bottom of the first. Four innings later, McMillan followed up a walk to Katie Block and a Taylor Anne Merritt single with a three-run dinger to extend the North Georgia lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth.
The Nighthawks added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Ansley Phillips doubled to lead off the inning, and pitch runner Hannah McSwain scored two batters later on a Block single. Block was sent home later in the inning on McMillan's fifth RBI of the contest, a two-out single through the right side of the infield.
The Lady Railsplitters' best scoring opportunity came in the top of the fourth, as
Kelly Dreier (Knoxville, Tenn.) laced a one-out single and stole second, but a strikeout and a ground out by the three and four hitters ended the threat.
Right-hander
Samantha Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) allowed 10 hits and six earned runs in six innings of work for the Lady Railsplitters. She dropped to 4-4 on the season in defeat.
Along with Couch and Dreier,
Meredith Johnson (Kenly, N.C.) was responsible for the only other hit for the Lady Railsplitters.
Game Two: Wayne State 1, Lincoln Memorial 0 The Lady Railsplitters and Wildcats combined for only 10 hits in Saturday's second game, and six of those hits were produced in the first inning alone.
Kristen Lucas, Lyndsay Butler and Jade McGarr all singled to load the bases for Wayne State in the top of the first, and Shelby Spano drove in the only run of the game with an infield single. LMU starter
Brianna Taylor (Ooltewah, Tenn.) prevented the Warriors from adding another run by striking out Devin Hentschel to end the inning.
Lincoln Memorial gave itself an early opportunity to take back that run, as Dreier and Johnson singled, and
Amanda Snow (Knoxville, Tenn.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. All three runners were left stranded, though, as
Teddi Collins (Germantown, Ohio) flew out to end the inning.
The Lady Railsplitters were seemingly handed another chance to score in the bottom of the second, as
Megan Tice (Orlando, Fla.) and Couch reached on back-to-back errors to put runners on second and third with no outs. Two foul outs and a pop out ended the inning and kept Wayne State in front 1-0.
Lincoln Memorial put a runner in scoring position just one more time in the last five innings, as Couch ripped a two-out double in the bottom of the fourth. She stole third to put the tying run 60 feet from home, but a ground out ended the threat.
The Lady Railsplitters' lack of offensive production resulted in a hard-luck loss for Taylor, who fell to 4-4 despite limiting Wayne State to seven hits and one run over seven innings of work.
The Warriors are coming off of a run to the NCAA Division II World Series in 2014.
Taylor allowed only three hits in the last six innings after a shaky first frame.
Brianna Lee picked up the win for the Warriors, finishing with three hits allowed, no earned runs and three strikeouts on her stat ledger.
The Lady Railsplitters wrap up the Captain D's Surf & Turf Classic on Sunday against North Georgia (3 p.m.) and McKendree (5 p.m.).
