DAHLONEGA, Ga. -- The Lady Railsplitters (9-3) will try to make some noise nationally on Friday when they play a doubleheader against the No. 4 North Georgia Nighthawks (18-5) at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium. Lincoln Memorial is back in action for the first time since going 3-1 last weekend at the Coker Spring Tournament, while North Georgia went 4-1 at the Diamond9 Citrus Classic in Orlando, Fla.
 
Schedule/Gameday Links:
 
Friday, March 3 vs. North Georgia (1pm) - Live Stats / Video
 
Quick Hits:
 
-Lincoln Memorial was supposed to play a doubleheader at King on Wednesday, but thunderstorms forced those games to be postponed. It was the third rainout of the season already for the Lady Railsplitters, who also had doubleheaders against Lee and Virginia-Wise canceled by weather.
 
-The Lady Railsplitters went 3-1 last weekend at the Coker Spring Tournament at Byerly Park, the site of the 2017 South Atlantic Conference Championship. Lincoln Memorial combined for 27 runs and 26 hits in five-inning wins over Bloomsburg and Charleston on day one of that event. In the front end of Sunday's action in Hartsville, S.C., the Lady Railsplitters left 10 runners stranded on base in a narrow 5-3 loss to Pfeiffer. LMU bounced back with a 6-3 win over Lander thanks to a pair of home runs from Dakotah Fraley (Walkersville, Md.) and BriAnna Schrimpf (Chandler, Ariz.).
 
-Fraley was tabbed as the AstroTurf SAC Player of the Week on Tuesday after going 6-for-11 in the Coker Spring Tournament with six RBI, two home runs, two doubles and three walks. That four-game stretch has the freshman shortstop leading the Lady Railsplitters in batting average (.474), on-base percentage (.556), slugging percentage (.868), home runs (3) and hits (18). She is currently ranked in the top five in the SAC in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base average.
 
-Sophomore Kelsie Hocutt (Wendell, N.C.) is also off to a tremendous start, as the first baseman is hitting .421 while leading the team in doubles with five. She has hit safely in eight consecutive games with multiple hits in two games over that span.
 
-Freshman Ty-Kella Goins (Ramseur, N.C.) has shaken off a 2-for-16 start to the season by reeling off multiple hits in six straight games. The infielder is batting .389 with two home runs and a team-leading 13 RBI.
 
-Teddi Collins (Germantown, Ohio) has reached base safely in eight straight games, which is tied with Hocutt for the longest streak by a Lady Railsplitter this season. She is batting .320 with eight singles, four walks and two hit-by-pitches.
 
-Junior right-hander Brianna Taylor (Ooltewah, Tenn.) looks to continue her stellar start to the season. Taylor is 5-2 with a 2.58 earned run average and has thrown five complete games. The Ooltewah, Tenn. native has proven that she is capable of shutting down the nation's best offenses, as Taylor held No. 2 West Texas A&M to just four hits and one run over six innings of work in the Cactus Classic on February 17. 
 
Notes on the Nighthawks:
 
-North Georgia has spent the last five seasons establishing itself as one of the premier Division II softball programs in the country. The Nighthawks went 47-11 in 2014 and won the 2015 NCAA Division II National Championship while compiling a 54-8 mark. North Georgia went 54-8 again last season, but lost to Armstrong State in the Super Regionals.
 
-The Nighthawks are off to a superb 18-5 start this season and head into Friday's doubleheader against the Lady Railsplitters following a 3-1 win over No. 8 Saint Leo in the final game of the Diamond9 Citrus Classic on Sunday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. North Georgia also beat Eckerd twice and split with Spring Hill College to go 4-1 in that event.
 
-North Georgia graduated 2015 National Player of the Year Courtney Poole, but hasn't missed a beat in the circle thanks to a nearly flawless start by freshman right-hander Kylee Smith, who was tabbed as the NFCA National Pitcher of the Week on Wednesday. Through her first 14 career appearances, Smith is 11-1 with a 0.92 earned run average. The 5-2 native of Suwanee, Ga. has compiled 91 strikeouts and allowed just 53 hits over 76.1 innings of work. She has struck out at least five batters in 13 of her 14 appearances with two 12-strikeout performances on her resume.  
 
-Senior outfielder Stephanie Hartness and junior infielder Sydney Sprague have been the catalysts for the Nighthawk offensive attack. Hartness is hitting a team-high .453 with 34 hits, 10 doubles, five triples, four home runs and 20 RBI. She has drawn a team-best 11 walks and struck out only once. Sprague has produced seven of North Georgia's 24 homers and is leading the team in RBI with 24. She is batting .440 with seven doubles.
 
-Sophomore infielder Kali Turner and freshmen utility players Kaylyn Anthony and Alishia Frierson are also hitting above .360 for the Nighthawks. Turner has just 42 at-bats this season, but has produced five doubles and nine RBI. Anthony has racked up six doubles, four home runs and 18 RBI, while Frierson has 18 singles, six doubles and 10 RBI.  Shelby Hammontree is also an impact player that is hitting .350 with seven doubles, two triples, four home runs and 18 RBI, but has struck out a team-high 15 times.
 
-North Georgia is a perfect 10-0 in Dahlonega this season. Dating back to the 2015 campaign, the Nighthawks have won 18 consecutive regular-season home games. Georgia College was the last team to win a regular-season game at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium, taking game two of a doubleheader on March 29, 3-2.
 
-The Nighthawks are 28-for-39 on stolen base attempts this season. Hartness, Sprague and Anthony lead the team with six steals apiece.
 
-As a unit, North Georgia is batting .333, slugging .557 and reaching base at a .402 clip. By contrast, opponents are hitting .216, slugging .315 and have a .322 on-base percentage against the Nighthawks.
 
-Kylee Smith has grabbed the headlines, but pitchers Amber Johns and Bria Bush aren't slouches, either. Johns has struck out 32 over 32.1 innings and compiled a 1.95 ERA with a 2-1 record. Bush is 4-3 with a 2.44 ERA over 37.1 innings of action.
 
Series History:
 
-The Lady Railsplitters are 2-7 all-time against North Georgia. All but one of the nine games in the series has been played in Dahlonega, where Lincoln Memorial is 1-7.
 
-LMU will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak against the Nighthawks. The Lady Railsplitters have been outscored 22-0 over that four-game skid.
 
-The Lady Railsplitters last beat North Georgia on February 17, 2014, pulling out an 8-6 win in the back end of a doubleheader. LMU's only other win in the series happened on February 9, 2013.