Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The Lady Railsplitters (23-26, 11-11 SAC) conjured up some seventh-inning magic to pull off a come-from-behind victory in game one and carried that momentum into game two to finish off the regular season by sweeping a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader from the Newberry Wolves (28-20, 9-13 SAC) on Saturday at Dorothy Neely Field.
 
Lincoln Memorial, which swept its second straight series to catapult to fifth place in the final SAC standings, used a gutsy play and a walk-off single from Meredith Johnson (Kenly, N.C.) to take game one by a score of 6-5. In the nightcap, the Lady Railsplitters raced out to a 9-2 and held on for a 9-6 victory to improve to 9-2 against Newberry in the last 11 meetings.
 
The Lady Railsplitters will be the five-seed in next week's double-elimination South Atlantic Conference Championship, opening against fourth-seeded Carson-Newman at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 28 in Hartsville, S.C.
 
Game One: Lincoln Memorial 6, Newberry 5
 
The Wolves took control of Saturday's opener early, taking advantage of two LMU errors to plate four runs in the top of the second inning. Jeri Loffler led off that frame by reaching on an infield error, while Maude McCourry singled and Mallory Gerndt was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. Allison Van Atta then brought a pair of runs in with a single back up the middle, while Christina Linton drove in two more runs with a two-out single.
 
The Lady Railsplitters went quietly in the bottom of that inning, but nearly fought back to tie the game in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs on three hits. Kristen McAndrew (Belmont, N.C.) kicked off the inning with a lead-off walk, while Ashlea Hunter (Woodruff, S.C.) reached on an infield single. Jennifer Moose (Statesville, N.C.) then cut the Wolves' lead in half with a two-run double before scoring on a double from Allie Jones (Ooltewah, Tenn.).
 
Neither team mustered any offense in the fourth or fifth inning, but Newberry added an insurance run in the top of the sixth, when Natalie Willis beat out the throw to first by a hair on an RBI bunt single.
 
The Lady Railsplitters entered the bottom of the seventh inning staring up at that 5-3 deficit, but an error allowed McAndrew to reach safely, while Hunter singled through the left side to put runners on second and third with no outs. The promise of that inning quickly faded, though, as a McAndrew was picked off at third base on a grounder put in play by Lindsay Cecil (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and fielded by the Newberry pitcher, while Moose also ground into a fielder's choice to put the Lady Railsplitters down to their last out.
 
Jones came through in the clutch, though, driving a single into left centerfield that kick-started a wild play that brought Lincoln Memorial back from the depths. Cecil scored on the hit, while the Newberry centerfielder made an errant throw and allowed Moose to move to third base. When the ball made its way back to the pitcher, Moose boldly took off for home and successfully stole home, beating the throw by the slimmest of margins to knot the game at 5-5.
 
In the very next at-bat, Johnson ripped a single back up the middle to score Jones and give Lincoln Memorial the walk-off victory.
 
Brianna Taylor (Ooltewah, Tenn.) picked up the win for the Lady Railsplitters, improving to 11-12 on the season after throwing 5 1/3 innings of four-hit, one-run relief. Taylor struck out five and hit two batters in relief of senior Samantha Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.), who was chased after allowing three hits and four runs (one earned) in 1 2/3 innings of work.
 
Jones went 2 for 4 with two RBI, while Hunter added a pair of singles to the Lady Railsplitters' seven-hit attack. Moose finished 1 for 3 with two RBI, a walk and two runs scored.
 
Maude McCourry made the start for Newberry, earning the no decision after allowing five hits and three earned runs in six innings of work. Devon Morrison was saddled with the loss, allowing the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh. McCourry also led Newberry at the plate, going 2 for 3 with a run scored.
 
Game Two: Lincoln Memorial 9, Newberry 6
 
The Lady Railsplitters led wire-to-wire in game two, scoring two runs in the first and three runs in the second to power a 9-6 victory and complete the sweep.
 
Moose continued to swing a hot bat for Lincoln Memorial, going 3 for 4 with three RBI, two runs scored and a home run, driving her season total to 10. Hunter and Cecil chipped in two hits apiece and combined for three RBI.
 
In the final appearance of her career at Dorothy Neely Field, Smith earned her 58th career victory in the Blue and Gray and her 11th win of the season, allowing five hits and no earned runs over 5 2/3 innings. The Knoxville, Tennessee native also finished 1 for 2 at the plate with a walk.
 
The Lady Railsplitters put their first two runners of the game on base, as Cecil and Moose singled in back-to-back at-bats in the bottom of the first. Jones drove the first run home with an RBI groundout, while Moose later scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0 after one.
 
Moose was back at it again in the bottom of the second, uncorking a three-run blast over the wall in left field to increase the Lady Railsplitters' lead to 5-0. With her 10th home run, Moose becomes the first LMU player to reach double-figure home runs in a season since Amanda Snow had 12 in 2013.
 
The Wolves got two runs back in the top of the fourth on RBI singles from Gerndt and Allison Van Atta, but the Lady Railsplitters erased all of that and more by hanging up a four-spot in the bottom of the fifth. Taylor kicked off the scoring that inning with an RBI double, which plated Johnson, who reached earlier in the inning via a lead-off single. Taylor would come around to score on a single from Hunter, while Cecil drove in two more runs with a single back up the middle.
 
The Lady Railsplitters had an opportunity to end the game early with runners on second and third and one out, but Moose popped out and Johnson lined out to centerfield to keep Newberry's hopes alive.
 
The Wolves made things interesting in the top of the sixth, using two walks, a hit-by-pitch and an error to score four runs on just one mere hit and cut the Lady Railsplitters' lead to 9-6.
 
But that would be the extent of Newberry's offensive output, as the Wolves stranded two runners on base in the top of the seventh to help the Lady Railsplitters tidy up their doubleheader sweep.