GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters (17-12, 1-5 SAC) will try to get back on track and snap a season-long three-game losing streak this week when they face the Tusculum Pioneers (18-14, 4-2 SAC) in a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at Red Edmonds Field before returning to Dorothy Neely Field to host No. 22 Limestone (30-6) on Thursday.
 
Lincoln Memorial dropped both ends of a doubleheader at Coker last weekend, while Tusculum has won four straight and outscored its opponents 30-5 over that span. The Saints, meanwhile, most recently split a doubleheader at Coker, with a 5-1 loss in game two snapping a six-game winning streak.
 
Schedule/Gameday Links:
 
Wednesday, March 29 at Tusculum
Game One (2pm) – Live Stats / Video
Game Two (4pm) – Live Stats / Video
 
Thursday, March 30 vs. Limestone
Game One (1pm) – Live Stats
Game Two (3pm) – Live Stats
 
Quick Hits:
 
-A two-out error came back to haunt the Lady Railsplitters in game one at Coker. In bottom of the second inning, reliever Kelsie Hocutt (Wendell, N.C.) made an errant throw that allowed a run to score and extended the inning. In the very next at-bat, Maria Williamson hit her 11th home run of the season to put the Cobras ahead 5-1. Lincoln Memorial put at least one runner on base in every inning after that, but could only muster two more runs in a 6-3 loss. Ty-Kella Goins (Ramseur, N.C.) went 3-for-4, drove in two runs and hit her sixth home run of the season to lead the LMU attack.
 
-The Lady Railsplitters jumped out to a 2-0 lead in game two, but the Cobras scored four unanswered runs to complete the sweep with a 4-2 victory at Saleeby-Stokes Field. Hocutt and Allie Jones (Ooltewah, Tenn.) combined to go 4-for-6 with two singles apiece, but the rest of the LMU batting order went 2-for-19 with six strikeouts.
 
-The Lady Railsplitters have struggled mightily with runners in scoring position over the past seven games. Since going 5-for-11 in those situations in game one of the Trevecca series on March 16, Lincoln Memorial is a combined 15-for-64 with runners in scoring position. The Lady Railsplitters went just 2-for-18 in RBI opportunities against Coker and combined to leave 15 on base.
 
-Freshman Dakotah Fraley (Walkersville, Md.) has reached base in nine consecutive games, tying both Jennifer Moose (Statesville, N.C.) and Ashlea Hunter (Woodruff, S.C.) for the longest such streak by a Lady Railsplitter this season. Fraley has hit safely in 12 of her last 14 games, and went 2-for-7 against Coker with a double, an RBI and a run scored. She is ranked 12th in the SAC in on-base percentage with a .458 clip.
 
-Lincoln Memorial hopes to get junior right-hander Brianna Taylor (Ooltewah, Tenn.) back on track. Taylor has lost two consecutive starts and failed to make it out of the second inning in either of those appearances. She fell to 10-6 after allowing three hits and two earned runs in 1.1 innings in game one against Coker.
 
-Freshman Justice Smith (Rockmart, Ga.) has been stellar in her last two appearances. After holding the dangerous Anderson attack to three hits and one unearned run with eight strikeouts over seven innings last Wednesday, Smith gave up just three hits and three runs in 4.2 innings of work against Coker. She was saddled with the loss to slip to 7-6 on the season.
 
-Jones has hit safely in five consecutive games and 11 of her last 13 overall. The left fielder has multiple hits in three of her last five games and combined to go 4-for-7 in the doubleheader at Coker. Jones is batting .422 with a .458 on-base percentage through 16 games in the month of March.
 
Notes on the Pioneers:
 
-Tusculum swept both its SAC doubleheaders last week, dominating the Brevard Tornados on Wednesday by scores of 11-1 and 5-0 before rolling over Queens on Saturday, 3-2 and 11-2. Since falling to 11-12 on March 9, the Pioneers have won seven of their last nine games.
 
-In game one of the Queens series, the Pioneers trailed 2-1 heading into the seventh inning before Emily Hester ripped the go-ahead two-run double with two outs to put Tusculum in the lead for good. The Pioneers carried that momentum into game two, scoring three runs in the second and five in the fourth to power an 11-2 five-inning triumph.
 
-Tusculum is near the bottom of the league in batting average (.287), on-base percentage (.352) and slugging percentage (.427), but has turned it up in South Atlantic Conference play with a .365/.402/.487 slash line. The Pioneers' .365 SAC batting average is ranked third in the league.
 
-Freshmen infielders Taylor Johnson and Sammie West are leading the Pioneers offensively with .392 and .394 batting averages, respectively. Johnson has a team-high 40 hits with seven doubles, three homers and 22 RBI, while West has racked up a team-best 10 doubles, 17 RBI and a .474 on-base percentage. Hester – a sophomore infielder – is hitting .380 with a team-best 32 RBI. Freshman infielder Delaney Guerrero is fourth on the team in hits with 23.
 
-Senior Robin Stoner leads the Pioneers with five home runs, but has only 50 at-bats this season and eight hits with a .160 average.
 
-The Pioneers' pitching staff has a 3.69 earned run average and a .311 batting average against in SAC play. Sophomore Taylor Plemons leads the team with 98.1 innings pitched, and has compiled a 9-7 record, a 3.06 ERA and 50 strikeouts over that span. Senior Eliza Davis and Cayla Cecil have thrown 57.2 and 55.1 innings, respectively. Cecil has been the most effective of that tandem with a 3.92 ERA and a 5-5 record, but has fanned just 10 batters.
 
-Tusculum is 30-for-35 on stolen base attempts this season. West leads the team by a considerable margin in steals with 12, while Morgan Mahaffey (.231 average) has five and Taylor Battle (.211 average) has four.
 
-West is hitting .667 in SAC play, while Johnson is batting .579 against conference opponents. West is 12-for-18 with 10 runs scored through six conference games, including a 5-for-5 effort in an 11-9 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne.
 
Series History:
 
-The Lady Railsplitters own a 63-53 advantage in the all-time series against Tusculum, which dates way back to 1982. The Pioneers have a slight 26-25 edge in Greeneville.
 
-Lincoln Memorial swept last season's series in Harrogate, winning 10-2 in game one and 5-4 in game two. In game one, Jones went 3-for-4 with four RBI, while Moose and BriAnna Schrimpf (Chandler, Ariz.) each hit home runs. Moose added two more hits in game two.
 
-The two teams split a doubleheader in Greeneville in 2015. The Lady Railsplitters won game one 4-2 before suffering a 2-1 setback in game two.
 
Notes on the Saints:
 
-Limestone has won three straight Conference Carolinas regular-season titles and look to be headed towards a fourth straight. The Saints are off to a 30-6 start that includes sweeps over Carson-Newman, Tusculum, No. 5 Lenoir-Rhyne and North Greenville.
 
-The Saints have been carried by an absolutely dominant pitching staff that ranks first in the Conference Carolinas in batting average against (.223) and second in earned run average (1.96). Limestone's two-headed monster of Josie Weber (14-2, 1.73 ERA, 73 strikeouts, 97.1 innings) and Courtney Smith (12-2, 1.72 ERA, 60 strikeouts, 85.2 innings) have combined to throw four shutouts with 21 complete games.
 
-Limestone has been solid at the plate as well with a .293/.364/.455 slash line, ranking second in the Conference Carolinas in slugging percentage. The Saints have piled up a league-leading 89 extra-base hits and 30 home runs.
 
-Senior Bailie Maybry has amassed a team-high 43 hits with five doubles, two triples, two home runs, 12 RBI and 14 stolen bases. Classmate Caroline Hill has contributed a team-best nine doubles and seven homers with 27 RBI. Junior Emma Swearingen leads the team in RBI with 37 on eight doubles and six dingers. Junior Sydney Turner has collected five doubles, two triples, six home runs and 27 RBI. All four of those players are hitting above .320 this season.
                        
-The Saints have averaged well over a steal per game with 47 through 36 appearances. Along with Maybry's team-high 14 steals, junior Tessa Faucette (.326, seven doubles) has 11 steals.
 
-Limestone is a perfect 12-0 at home, but has been slightly more vulnerable on the road with a 14-6 record. The Saints were swept at USC Aiken and also dropped road games at Catawba, Anderson and nationally-ranked Pfeiffer.
 
Series History:
 
-The Lady Railsplitters will be looking for their first win over Limestone since 2013, as the Saints swept a doubleheader in Gaffney, South Carolina last season and split at Dorothy Neely Field in 2013.
 
-The two teams are dead even at 4-4 in the all-time series.
 
-In game one of last season's doubleheader, Limestone scored two runs in the third and added two more in the fifth to power a 4-1 win. Moose and Kristen McAndrew (Belmont, N.C.) accounted for four of LMU's six hits in the game.
 
-In game two, the Saints scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth and withstood a late rally to beat the Lady Railsplitters 3-2 and complete the sweep. LMU was limited to just four hits in the contest, while Swearingen went 2-for-2 with a double to lead the Limestone attack.