SALEM, Va. -- The Lady Railsplitters (12-15) extended their winning streak to eight games this past weekend in Salem, Va. by winning all four games in the West Virginia Wesleyan Softball Tournament. Lincoln Memorial dominated on day one of that event, making short work of Ohio Valley in an 11-0 win in six innings before cruising by Bowie State 14-0 in five innings. The Lady Railsplitters then wrapped up the weekend on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Mercyhurst and a 4-1 triumph over Concord.
 
Lincoln Memorial is back in action on Saturday, March 19, opening South Atlantic Conference play with a doubleheader at Wingate beginning at 1 p.m.
 
Game One: Lincoln Memorial 11, Ohio Valley 0 (6 innings)
 
Brianna Taylor (Ooltewah, Tenn.) fell two outs short of throwing her first career no-hitter, while the LMU offense racked up 11 hits and scored four runs in the top of the first and five more in the sixth stanza to power the victory.
 
Taylor held the Fighting Scots hitless over 5 1/3 innings until Marissa Davidson ended her no-hit bit with a one-out single in the bottom of the sixth. Ohio Valley got another base hit from Courtney Bee later in the inning, but Taylor induced a fly out to complete her shutout. The Ooltewah, Tenn. native struck out eight and walked three in the victory.
 
Lindsay Cecil (Winston-Salem, N.C.) went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles, three runs scored and an RBI, while Meredith Johnson (Kenly, N.C.) was 2-for-4 with two RBI and hit her first home run of the 2016 campaign. Savannah Couch (Colonial Heights, Va.) went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI.
 
The Railsplitters hung up four runs in the top of the first inning to take command of the board. BriAnna Schrimpf (Chandler, Ariz.) opened the scoring with a sacrifice groundout, while Becca Burchette (Gas City, Ind.) made it a 2-0 lead with an RBI single. Johnson capped the four-run flurry with a two-run home run.
 
Couch singled in a run in the top of the second and Ashlea Hunter (Woodruff, S.C.) plated another with a run-scoring base knock in the top of the fourth, but the Lady Railsplitters put the game completely out of reach in the sixth frame, scoring six runs. Allie Jones (Ooltewah, Tenn.) had the big hit that inning with an RBI triple.
 
Arianna Escobar suffered the loss for Ohio Valley after allowing four earned runs on three hits in 2/3 innings work.
 
Game Two: Lincoln Memorial 14, Bowie State 0 (5 innings)
 
The hit parade continued for the Lady Railsplitters in Friday's second game, as Lincoln Memorial piled up 14 hits and combined to score 12 runs in the first two innings to race away from the Bulldogs.
 
Right-hander Samantha Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) threw a complete-game shutout, allowing just three hits and striking out five to pick up her first win since beating UNC Pembroke on February 27.
 
Five different LMU players produced multiple hits in the game, led by Couch's 3-for-4 showing that included three RBI, a double and three runs scored. Jones went 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI, while Burchette, Cecil and Hunter added two hits apiece.
 
The Lady Railsplitters batted around in the bottom of the first and racked up seven hits to bury the Bulldogs in an 8-0 hole from which they were unable to recover. Jones and Jennifer Moose (Statesville, N.C.) kicked off the scoring with run-scoring singles, while Couch belted a bases-clearing double later in the inning. Jones capped the scoring and tallied her second RBI of the inning with a RBI single.
 
Lincoln Memorial nearly batted around again in the bottom of the second, scoring four more runs on four more hits. Burchette, Cecil, Hunter and Kristen McAndrews (Belmont, N.C.) each had run-scoring hits in the frame, highlighted by Hunter's triple.
 
The Lady Railsplitters tacked on runs in the third and fourth frames to pace the five-inning victory.
 
Nicoleen Ochoa accounted for two of Bowie State's three hits, but also suffered the loss on the mound, giving up seven hits and eight earned runs in an inning of work.
 
Game Three: Lincoln Memorial 2, Mercyhurst 1
 
The Lady Railsplitters were limited to just three hits, but Schrimpf hit a two-run blast in the bottom of the third and Smith tossed another complete-game gem to make it hold up.
 
Smith scattered eight hits around the yard, gave up just one unearned run and forced Mercyhurst to strand 10 runners on the bases to draw her season record back even at 4-4. She struck five and walked three in the victory.
 
The Lady Railsplitters' offense was stuck in neutral until the bottom of the third frame, when Jones drew a walk in front of Schrimpf, who pummeled a two-run homer to put Lincoln Memorial ahead 2-0.
 
Mercyhurst got one of those runs back in the top of the fourth on an RBI single by Ellie Dougher, but they wouldn't score again in the contest.
 
The Lakers made it interesting in the top of the seventh inning, as Courtney Brothers and Allison Yule singled to put two runners on with two outs, but Smith induced a game-ending groundout to cap the Lady Railsplitters' 2-1 win.
 
Dougher and Brothers led the way for Mercyhurst with two hits apiece, while Heather Nye suffered the loss after allowing two hits and two earned runs in three innings of work.
 
Game Four: Lincoln Memorial 4, Concord 1
 
The Lady Railsplitters scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth to break a 1-1 stalemate and pace a 4-1 win over the Mountain Lions.
 
Taylor picked up her second win of the weekend and improved to 7-6 on the season after tossing a three-hitter, striking out five and walking one over seven innings of action.
 
Couch, Schrimpf and Hunter each recorded two hits in the contest, with Hunter driving in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fourth and finishing with two RBI.
 
The Mountain Lions drew first blood in the top of the first frame, when Lauren Lewis plated Alayna Furr with a sacrifice groundout. But the Lady Railsplitters responded in the home half of that inning and tied the game at 1-1 on a squeeze bunt from Jones.
 
The second and third innings past without consequence, but the Lady Railsplitters grabbed the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth, as Hunter drove in two runs with a two-out triple. Couch then drove in Hunter with an RBI single back up the middle to provide Lincoln Memorial with an insurance run.
 
Concord wouldn't even threaten the rest of the way, though, as Taylor set the side down in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to dust off her complete game.
 
Furr went 2-for-3 to lead the Concord offensive attack. Sarah Herndon was saddled with the loss after allowing three hits and three earned runs over two innings of relief work.