SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Lady Railsplitters (3-10) make their annual trip to Spartanburg, S.C. for the Mid-South Classic this weekend, where they will face three Peach Belt Conference opponents as well as one undefeated program from outside of the region. Here's everything you need to know:
 
Schedule/Game Day Links:
 
Saturday, February 27 vs. UNC Pembroke - 10am (Spartanburg, S.C.)
Saturday, February 27 vs. Lander - 2pm (Spartanburg, S.C.)
Sunday, February 28 vs. Augusta - 10am (Spartanburg, S.C.)
Sunday, February 28 vs. Southern Indiana - Noon (Spartanburg, S.C.)
 
Quick Hits:
-The Lady Railsplitters lost all four games in last weekend's Palmetto State tour, dropping a doubleheader at Erskine by scores of 6-4 and 3-2 on Saturday before being swept in a doubleheader at Limestone on Sunday 4-1 and 3-2. Offense was the main culprit in that disappointing weekend, as Lincoln Memorial batted .208 and reached base at a .274 clip over that four-game stretch. The Lady Railsplitters' on-base percentage was a bit inflated, too, thanks to five walks and five hit by pitches.
-Junior shortstop Jennifer Moose (Statesville, N.C.) continued to swing a hot bat for the Lady Railsplitters last weekend, hitting .417 with a double and two stolen bases. Moose recorded her second two-hit game of the season in game one at Limestone with a 2-for-3 performance. She is tied with Savannah Couch (Colonial Heights, Va.) for the team lead in hits with 13, while she leads the Lady Railsplitters in home runs (3), stolen bases (4) and slugging (.575).
-Despite posting a 2.17 ERA last weekend, senior right-handed pitcher Samantha Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) suffered two losses to fall to 1-3 on the season. She was saddled with the loss in game one against Erskine after serving up a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning that was set up by back-to-back errors earlier in the inning. She then took the loss in game two against Limestone despite allowing just five hits and three runs over six innings of work.
-The Lady Railsplitters are putting their lead-off batter on base nearly 40 percent of the time, but that hasn't translated to more runs, as Lincoln Memorial is hitting .208 (37-for-178) with runners on base. That number is even worse when runners are in scoring position, when the Lady Railsplitters are batting .203.
-Last year's Mid-South Classic was wiped out by snow, but the Lady Railsplitters went 3-2 at that event in 2014, losing to Georgia College and Columbus State while beating Alderson-Broaddus, Flagler and No. 6 Armstrong. 
 
Notes on the Opponents:
-UNC Pembroke enters the Mid-South Classic with a 5-5-1 overall record, but has won four of its last six games, most recently battering Chowan 12-2 in five innings. Early in the season, the Braves have not been very good on the mound or in the batter's box. UNC Pembroke pitching is currently carrying a 3.87 ERA with a .301 batting average against, which is the second-worst mark in the Peach Belt Conference. The Braves are ranked fifth in the PBC in team batting average with a .310 mark, but they are slugging just .357 with a league-worst three home runs.
-Junior Abbey Walters and sophomore Toni Nelson are players to watch for the Braves. Walters is hitting .436 with a team-leading 17 hits and six doubles to go along with seven RBI and five stolen bases. Nelson is hitting .467 with a double, a home run and seven RBI. Sophomore infielder Taylor Gerhart has a double, two home runs and a team-best 13 RBI. Jamie Johnson has eight stolen bases on just nine attempts. Senior right-hander Katie Saunders has pitched the bulk of the innings for the Braves with 39 1/3, compiling a 4.27 ERA and a 3-4 record over that span.
-Lander is sitting a spot ahead of UNC Pembroke in the Peach Belt Conference standings at 5-5 overall. The Bearcats have split three straight doubleheaders, most recently doing so at Pfeiffer. Lander is near the bottom of the PBC rankings in nearly every offensive category with a .261 batting average, a .342 on-base percentage and a .368 slugging percentage. The Bearcats' 68 total hits this season are the fewest in the PBC.
-Halie Sorrow is the only everyday player for Lander hitting above .300, as she is currently sporting a .444 batting average with eight hits, a home run and four RBI. Casey Kent leads the team in at-bats with 29, but is hitting only .172 with two doubles and a triple. Destiny Clyde is second on the team with 28 at-bats, sporting a .286 average with a pair of doubles. The Lady Railsplitters are likely to see either McKenzi Ferguson (3.58 ERA, 3-3, 30 strikeouts) or Lexi Griffin (2.88 ERA, 1-1, 17 strikeouts) on the mound.
-Augusta is sitting alone in last place in the PBC standings with a 5-11 record, but that is a product of a miserable start, as the Jaguars opened the season with 10 straight losses before getting back on track recently with wins in five of the last six. That includes a two-game sweep over Erskine last Friday, who took two games from the Lady Railsplitters last weekend. Despite that recent surge, Augusta is still ranked last in the PBC in batting average (.226), slugging percentage (.339) and on-base percentage (.324) while ranking second-to-last in the league in earned run average with a 5.02 mark.
-Ashley Benton and Casey Rowland lead the Jaguars in hits with 12 apiece. Rowland has a double, three home runs and six RBI, while Benton has driven in four and walked six times. Lindsey Stokes might be the most dangerous player in the Jaguars' lineup, though, as she is hitting .333 with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and seven RBI. Auburn Balcorta leads the team with eight RBI on two home runs. Paige Deschaine is the pitcher to watch for Augusta, as she has struck out 43 batters over 34 1/3 innings, compiling a 4.69 ERA with a 2-4 record.
-Southern Indiana is off to a 4-0 start after sweeping a doubleheader from Ohio Dominican last Saturday and taking two from Trevecca Nazarene on Tuesday. The Screaming Eagles are coming off of a season in which they finished with a 39-11 record and missed out on making the Midwest Super-Regional by only one game. USI is hitting .316 and slugging .480 as a team through its first four games.
-Haley Hodges is off to a red-hot start for the Screaming Eagles, as she has recorded a hit in seven of her first nine at-bats, including two doubles and two home runs. Shelby Tate, Lexi Reese and Oli Clark-Kittleson are also 4-for-10 for Southern Indiana. On the mound, three different pitchers have thrown at least six innings. Courtney Atkisson leads that group with a 2-0 record, 10 1/3 innings pitched, three strikeouts and a 1.74 ERA.
 
Series History:
-Lincoln Memorial and UNC Pembroke are meeting for only the second time in program history. The Lady Railsplitters won the first head-to-head clash 6-5 back in 2007 at the Mid-South Classic.
-The Lady Railsplitters are 11-4 all-time against Lander. The two teams split a doubleheader in Greenwood, S.C. last season, with Lander winning game one 5-4 and Lincoln Memorial bouncing back with an 8-3 win in game two.
-LMU and Augusta are squaring off for only the third time since the turn of the century and the first since the Lady Railsplitters captured a 10-1 win in March, 2013 in Duncan, S.C. The Lady Railsplitters are 3-1 all-time against the Jaguars.
-The Lady Railsplitters and Screaming Eagles are playing for the first time since 1997, when USI pounded Lincoln Memorial 10-0 in Owensboro, Ky. That's the only meeting between the two programs.