HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Lady Railsplitters (6-2) will face three teams that played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament this weekend when they travel to Hartsville, S.C. to compete in the Coker Spring Tournament, which is being held at Byerly Park – the site of the 2017 South Atlantic Conference Championship. Lincoln Memorial squares off against Bloomsburg and Charleston – two teams that combined to win 95 games last season – on Saturday before facing Pfeiffer and Lander on Sunday.
 
Schedule/Gameday Links:
Coker Spring Tournament page
 
Saturday, February 25 vs. Bloomsburg (1pm) – Live Stats
Saturday, February 25 vs. Charleston (5pm) – Live Stats
Sunday, February 26 vs. Pfeiffer (9am) – Live Stats
Sunday, February 26 vs. Lander (1pm) – Live Stats
 
Quick Hits:
 
-The Lady Railsplitters were originally scheduled to host Lee on Wednesday, but that doubleheader was postponed by rain.
 
-Lincoln Memorial is back in action for the first time since wrapping up the Cactus Classic in Tucson, Ariz. last weekend. The Lady Railsplitters fell to the Academy of Art (8-1) and No. 2 West Texas A&M (1-0) on day one, but bounced back with convincing wins over Fort Lewis (8-2) and University of Mary (13-3, six innings) the next day.
 
-Freshman Dakotah Fraley (Walkersville, Md.) tallied multiple hits in three of the four games in Tucson to take over the team-lead for batting average (.444) and hits (12). Against University of Mary, Fraley went 4-for-5, hit her first career home run and finished a triple shy of the cycle. The Walkersville, Md. native has reached base safely in all but one of her eight appearances this season, as she also leads the team in on-base percentage with a .500 clip.
 
-The Lady Railsplitters have battled inconsistency at the plate early in the season. Lincoln Memorial piled up 14 runs and 21 hits in the season-opening doubleheader at Mount Olive, but had just six total runs and six hits in the doubleheader against Lees-McRae. LMU also followed up a nine-hit, one-run day by piling up 28 hits and 21 runs on day two of the Cactus Classic. Overall, the Lady Railsplitters are hitting .294 as a team with a .370 on-base percentage.
 
-Junior Brianna Taylor (Ooltewah, Tenn.) and freshman Justice Smith (Rockmart, Ga.) are off to 3-1 starts. Taylor, who limited the second-ranked West Texas A&M offense to a season-low one run and four hits in Tucson, has a 2.42 ERA with four complete games under her belt. Smith has 18 strikeouts through 20 innings of work and is coming off of a career-high 10-strikeout performance against the University of Mary.
 
-The Lady Railsplitters are hitting .386 with runners in scoring position, including a sizzling .857 mark (6-for-7) with the bases loaded. Ty-Kella Goins (Ramseur, N.C.) and BriAnna Schrimpf (Chandler, Ariz.) lead the team with five hits with runners in scoring position, while Ashlea Hunter (Woodruff, S.C.) has four. Schrimpf is a perfect 2-for-2 with the bases loaded.
 
Notes on Bloomsburg:
 
-This weekend's tournament and Saturday's game against the Lady Railsplitters' serves as Bloomsburg's season opener. The Huskies went 45-9 last season and were eliminated in the semifinal round of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional.
 
-Bloomsburg was the unanimous preseason favorite to win the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) championship. The Huskies went 19-1 in PSAC play last season and won the conference tournament for the first time since 2010.
 
-Bloomsburg brings back five All-PSAC selections, including reigning PSAC Central Player of the Year Taylor Parker and PSAC Central Freshman of the Year Taylor Winkelman. Parker – a senior pitcher and middle infielder – hit .372 last season with 14 home runs and 52 RBI. In the circle, she went 13-2 with a stingy 1.83 earned run average and 97 strikeouts over 107 innings. Winkelman led the Huskies in batting average with a .409 clip and added 19 doubles.
 
-Junior outfielder Emily Mayhew, senior catcher Anna McElroy and senior pitcher Mallory Tomaschik are also back after earning All-PSAC plaudits last season. Mayhew batted .364 with nine homers and 42 RBI in 2016, while McElroy hit .274. Tomaschik was effective both at the plate and in the circle, compiling a .322 average with five home runs while going a perfect 15-0 with a 1.72 ERA.
 
-Bloomsburg hit .315 as a team last season and rode the combination of Tomaschik and Parker to hold opposing batters to a .196 clip. The Huskies ranked ninth in the nation in earned run average with a 1.51 mark, but did lose their leader in that department, as Sarah Bortner posted a 17-7 record with a 1.11 ERA over a team-leading 152 innings pitched.
 
Notes on Charleston:
 
-Like Bloomsburg, this weekend will be the start of the 2017 campaign for the Golden Eagles, who went 50-12 last season and advanced to the NCAA Division II College World Series. Charleston was handled in that event, bowing out after falling 10-4 to Adelphi and 7-0 to Southern Arkansas.
 
-Charleston was ranked eighth in the NFCA preseason national poll and picked to finish second behind West Virginia Wesleyan in the Mountain East Conference South Division in the preseason coaches poll.
 
-The UC softball coaching staff was tabbed as the 2016 NFCA Atlantic Region Staff of the Year, but head coach Ray Loeser left to fill the head coaching vacancy at Wright State, a position he no longer holds. The Golden Eagles are now under the direction of Kimberly Stiles, who previously served as the head coach at Davis & Elkins for six seasons.
 
-The Golden Eagles return their hits leader from last season in senior outfielder Rachelle Toppings. The 5-7 native of Houston, Texas racked up 79 hits with a .354 average a season ago, piling up 10 doubles and 21 RBI while striking out just 17 times in 223 official at-bats.
 
-Senior infielder Laura Ashlock is also back after hitting .356, bashing 11 home runs and driving in 50 runs last season. She led the Golden Eagles in home runs, RBI, slugging percentage (.654) and batting average (.356).
 
-Charleston made its money in the circle last season, ranking 11th in the nation in earned run average with a miniscule 1.61 mark. Senior Alli Burdette threw 236 innings in 2016, compiling a 1.63 ERA with a ridiculous 32-4 record and 203 strikeouts. Junior Jessie Rowe was a solid sidekick, posting a 1.57 ERA and an 18-7 record over 178.2 innings of work.
 
Notes on Pfeiffer:
 
-The Falcons are off to a stellar 9-1 start to the 2017 campaign and enter the weekend as winners in five straight games. Pfeiffer will play a doubleheader at USC Aiken on Friday before facing Fairmont State and Lander on day one of the Coker Spring Tournament.
 
-Pfeiffer is absolutely pounding the softball early in the season and boasts a .332/.442/.479 slash line as a unit. The Falcons have piled up 61 runs – an average of 6.1 per game – and 22 extra-base hits.
 
-The Falcons' pitching staff has been great, too, as they have put together a 1.70 earned run average and a .214 batting average against. Pfeiffer has allowed two earned runs or less in nine of its 10 games this season.
 
-Freshman Makenzie Pennell is off to a terrific start, as she leads the team in hits (15), RBI (10), batting average (.469) and slugging percentage (.750). Pennell is also tied with Kaleigh Troutman for the team-lead in home runs with two. Sophomore Stephanie Fortner is hitting .387 with 12 hits and a double, while junior Emma Tuttle has compiled a .393 batting average with 11 singles.
 
-The Falcons are 29-for-32 on stolen base attempts. Vada Blue Sherrill leads the team with eight steals, while Fortner and Tuttle have five apiece.
 
-Freshman lefty Caitlin Christian is leading the Pfeiffer pitching staff with 30.1 innings pitched. Over that span, she has posted a 2-1 record with two saves, 31 strikeouts and a 1.38 ERA. Senior righty Sydney Poole is 4-0 with a 1.19 ERA over 17.2 innings of work.
 
Notes on Lander:
 
-The Bearcats are off to a 5-7 start. Lander swept a doubleheader versus Wingate on February 15, but enter the Coker Spring Tournament having lost three of its last four games. The Bearcats split a twinbill against Coker on Tuesday, losing 9-5 in the opener before winning 3-1 in game two.
 
-Lander is hitting just .241 as a team and has only two every day players batting above .300. The Bearcats have flashed some power with seven doubles and 11 home runs through the first 12 games.
 
-Brianna Surrento is leading the way offensively for Lander with a .423 batting average, while Madison Moore is the only other regular hitting above .300 with a .375 clip. She has a team-high 12 hits, three doubles, three homers and 11 RBI.
 
-The Lander pitching staff has gotten knocked around a bit as four hurlers have combined for a 5.03 ERA. Surrento leads the team in innings pitched with 34, but is 2-3 with an ugly 6.09 ERA and 45 hits allowed over that span. McKenzi Ferguson has tossed 31 innings and is 2-4 with a 4.06 ERA.
 
-Lander has averaged just over an error per game with 13 for the season. Casey Kent and Dariean Ward have four apiece. That shaky defense has only allowed four unearned runs to score against the Bearcats.
 
Series History:
 
-Saturday marks the first-ever meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Bloomsburg.
 
-The Lady Railsplitters own a 4-1 record all-time against Charleston, but the two teams haven't played since 2010, a 2-1 win for LMU in Spartanburg, S.C. All five games in the series have been contested at a neutral site.
 
-Lincoln Memorial is 3-1 all-time against Pfeiffer. The Falcons won the most recent meeting, though, pulling out a 4-3 win in Columbus, Ga. in February 2014. The Lady Railsplitters scored at least six runs against the Falcons in each of the other three meetings.
 
-LMU and Lander have played every season since 2013, and the Lady Railsplitters boast an 11-5 edge over the Bearcats. Lander has won two of the last three, though, taking a 6-1 decision in Spartanburg last season after splitting a doubleheader in Greenwood, S.C. in 2015.