SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Freshman third baseman Parker Brantley (Zebulon, N.C.) collected a pair of hits in the first two games of her collegiate career, but the Lady Railsplitters (0-2) were handed a 9-4 loss by Catawba and a 6-5 extra-inning setback to host Armstrong State on the opening day of the 2016 softball season at the Pirate Classic in Savannah, Ga.
 
Game One: Catawba 9, Lincoln Memorial 4
 
The Lady Railsplitters were held hitless through the first three innings by Catawba senior pitcher Carley Tysinger, who recorded seven of the first nine outs of the game via a strikeout.
 
Lincoln Memorial's sophomore righty Brianna Taylor (Ooltewah, Tenn.) held her own over two and two-thirds of an inning before a two-out error opened the floodgates for the Indians in the bottom of the third.
 
Ashley Wagoner, who walked to lead off the third frame, scored on that two-out error by the LMU shortstop to put the Indians ahead 1-0. Following back-to-back free passes, Katherine Shumaker cleared the bases with a three-run double to left center. Morgan Brann then capped the six-run inning with a two-run home run to straightaway center field.
 
The Indians increased their lead to 9-0 in the bottom of the fourth when Shumaker blasted a three-run home run over the wall in left center.
 
The Lady Railsplitters finally broke into the scoring column in the top of the fifth as Savannah Couch (Colonial Heights, Va.) singled and later scored on a dropped fly ball by the Catawba left fielder.
 
The score held steady until the top of the seventh, when Kristen McAndrew (Belmont, N.C.) led off with a single and later scored on a two-out single by Brantley. Allie Jones (Ooltewah, Tenn.) followed that up with a single, while Meredith Johnson (Kenly, N.C.) drew a walk to load the bases. A fielding error by the Catawba shortstop allowed another run to score, but BriAnna Schrimpf's (Chandler, Ariz.) infield pop-up ended the game.
 
Brantley went 2-for-4 at the dish with a run scored and an RBI to lead the LMU offense, which finished with six hits. McAndrew scored two runs and accounted for a hit out of the Lady Railsplitters' eight-hole.
 
Three Catawba pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts. Tysinger was responsible for 10 of those strikeouts, as she picked up the win after allowing just one hit over four innings.
 
Taylor suffered the loss for the Lady Railsplitters after being saddled with six unearned runs and allowing three hits over 2.2 innings of work. Kenzie Dixon (Church Hill, Tenn.) tossed 3.1 innings of relief, giving up three runs and four hits over that span.
 
Shumaker led the Indians with a pair of hits and six RBIs.
 
Game Two: Armstrong State 6, Lincoln Memorial 5 (8 innings)
 
The Lady Railsplitters struck early against the host Pirates, as Brantley pounded a one-out double to center field before scoring on a base knock by Jones in the next at-bat. However, Armstrong bounced right back in the home half of the first, when Peyton Roth was hit by a pitch, stole second and later scored on a wild pitch.
 
The second inning passed without consequence, but the Pirates grabbed a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the third frame. Roth kick-started that rally as well with a lead-off single, which was followed up by a Logan Harrell single. Hannah Reppert plated the first run of the inning with a double to right field, while Jane Trzaska drove in Harrell with an RBI groundout.
 
The Lady Railsplitters got a run back in the top of the fourth on a two-out, RBI single from McAndrew, but back-to-back run-scoring singles from Reppert and Autumn Parrish pushed the Pirates ahead 5-2 in the home half of the fifth.
 
With six outs left to erase a three-run deficit, the Lady Railsplitters rallied.
 
Ashlea Hunter (Woodruff, S.C.) closed the gap to 5-3 in the top of the sixth inning with a single back up the middle, which plated Couch, who was hit by a pitch two batters earlier.
 
Brantley sparked the most pivotal rally in the top of the seventh with a lead-off single. Jones followed that up by drawing a walk, while Becca Burchette (Gas City, Ind.) moved the runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. A strikeout put the Lady Railsplitters down to their final out, but Couch came through in the clutch with a two-run single to right field, tying the game at 5-5. Jacie Pittman (Travelers Rest, S.C.) singled in the next at-bat to send Couch to third base, but a groundout left the potential winning run stranded.
 
Two singles and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Armstrong in the bottom of the seventh, but relief pitcher Alicia Raymond (Cleveland, Tenn.) induced a 6-2 putout and a pop out to send the game into extra innings.
 
Unfortunately, that momentum wouldn't carry over into extra innings, as the Lady Railsplitters came up empty-handed in the top of the eighth, while a walk-off single from Harrell helped the Pirates escape with a 6-5 win.
 
Hunter went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI, Couch was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored, and Brantley went 2-for-4 with two runs scored to lead the Lincoln Memorial offense.
 
Raymond took the loss after giving up one unearned run and three hits over 2.1 innings of relief. Samantha Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) made the start for the Lady Railsplitters, surrendering four earned runs and eight hits in five frames.
 
Trzaska picked up the win for Armstrong with four innings of four-hit relief. Harrell went 3-for-4 to pace the Pirates offensively.
 
The loss drops Lincoln Memorial to 1-8 all-time against Armstrong. The Lady Railsplitters have not beaten the Pirates since 1999.
 
But they will get another chance on Sunday afternoon, as Lincoln Memorial and Armstrong close out the Pirate Classic at 1 p.m. in Savannah, Ga.