HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters (4-0) opened up Dorothy Neely Field by sweeping a doubleheader from the Lees-McRae Bobcats (0-8) on Wednesday afternoon in Harrogate, Tenn. Lincoln Memorial unloaded six runs in the home half of the fourth to power a 6-2 win in game one and mustered the only run of the game in a 1-0 win in the nightcap to sweep its second straight series to open the 2017 season.  
 
The Lady Railsplitters are 4-0 for just the second time in the past six seasons while it marks Lincoln Memorial's first 4-0 start since the 2014 campaign.
 
Weather permitting, the Lady Railsplitters will host Virginia-Wise for a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Thursday afternoon at Dorothy Neely Field.
 
Game One: Lincoln Memorial 6, Lees-McRae 2
 
The Bobcats drew first blood on a lead-off solo home run from Noel Cassidy in the top of the second and that lead held up for a short time as the Lady Railsplitters tried to solve Lees-McRae starter Charlie Dutton.
 
Dutton struggled with control early, issuing three walks and one hit by pitch, but held Lincoln Memorial hitless and stranded three baserunners through the first three innings.
 
However, the Lady Railsplitters finally got to Dutton in the bottom of the fourth, scoring all six of their runs while recording four of their five hits.
 
Dakotah Fraley (Walkersville, Md.) jump-started that rally with a one-out double, while BriAnna Schrimpf (Chandler, Ariz.) was hit by a pitch and Teddi Collins (Germantown, Ohio) walked to load the bases. Ashlea Hunter (Woodruff, S.C.) then put the Lady Railsplitters in the lead with a two-run double. A squeeze bunt from Jennifer Moose (Statesville, N.C.) in the next at-bat made it 3-1.
 
Kelsie Hocutt (Wendell, N.C.) drove in two runs later in the inning with a single, while Meredith Johnson (Kenly, N.C.) tacked on another with a run-scoring base knock in the following at-bat.
 
That proved to be more than enough run support for Brianna Taylor (Ooltewah, Tenn.), who tossed her second consecutive complete game to open the 2017 campaign by allowing two earned runs and five hits in seven innings of work. Taylor struck out one and walked one to improve to 2-0.
 
The Bobcats added one run down the stretch on a two-out, RBI double by Kirsten Doss.
 
Hunter and Hocutt powered the Lady Railsplitters' offensive attack with two RBI apiece.
 
Dutton took the loss for Lees-McRae, surrendering four hits, six runs and five walks over four innings of work. She struck out three and hit two batters to slip to 0-3 on the season.
 
Game Two: Lincoln Memorial 1, Lees-McRae 0
 
The Lady Railsplitters couldn't get anything going at the plate against Lees-McRae starter Kara Cunningham, who allowed just one hit while tossing a complete game. That hit was critical, though, as it drove in the only run of the game to secure the sweep for Lincoln Memorial.
 
After going down in order in the first two innings and stranding two on base – reached via an error and a walk – in the third, the Lady Railsplitters broke into the scoring column in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single from Schrimpf. LMU's only hit of the game plated Fraley, who sparked the two-out rally by drawing a walk two batters earlier.
 
That timely hit helped the Lady Railsplitters take advantage of a solid start from freshman Justice Smith (Rockmart, Ga.), who moved to 2-0 with her first career complete-game shutout. Smith allowed five hits and tallied four strikeouts while stranding eight Lees-McRae runners on base.
 
While Lincoln Memorial struggled to find any offensive spark, the Bobcats threatened to score on multiple occasions. In the top of the fourth, back-to-back singles from Doss and Karly McRary followed by a walk to Cassidy loaded the bases with two outs. However, Smith struck out Sarah Beth Ashley to end the threat.
 
Lees-McRae conjured something up again in the top of the sixth as Sarah Tucker singled and Doss reached on an error to put two runners on without an out. But Smith wiggled out of that jam as well with a foul out, a line out and a groundout.
 
Smith set the Bobcats down in 1-2-3 order in the top of the seventh to complete the sweep.
 
The wins pushed Lincoln Memorial to 9-3 in the all-time series against Lees-McRae and extended the Lady Railsplitters' winning streak to five games in the series.