HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters (19-4) crushed the 24th-ranked Limestone Saints (31-7) in the early game of Thursday's nonconference doubleheader at Dorothy Neely Field to highlight the split.
 
Lincoln Memorial scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back in a 10-2 five-inning win over the Saints in game one, but Limestone bounced back behind a strong outing from Josie Weber to salvage the split with a 4-0 win in game two.
 
The Lady Railsplitters return to South Atlantic Conference action on Saturday, April 1 when they travel to Salisbury, North Carolina for a doubleheader against the Catawba Indians. First pitch in game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
Game One: Lincoln Memorial 10, Limestone 2 (Five innings)
 
Ty-Kella Goins went 2-for-3 with three RBI, a double and a triple, Kelsie Hocutt drove in three runs as part of a 2-for-2 performance, and Meredith Johnson belted a three-run home run, as the Lady Railsplitters racked up the most runs allowed by Limestone since April 17, 2016. Jennifer Moose also went 2-for-2 with a double and two runs scored.
 
Brianna Taylor (11-6) got back on track and snapped a string of four straight losses by holding the potent Saints offense to five hits and two runs with two strikeouts over five innings of work. Shortstop Tessa Faucette was the only Limestone player with any measurable success against Taylor, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a double - the team's only extra-base-hit of the contest.
 
The Lady Railsplitters jumped on the Saints early, nearly batting around to bring five runs across in the bottom of the first. Hocutt drove in the first run with a perfectly-placed squeeze bunt, and also reached safely on the play courtesy of some confusion between the Limestone pitcher and third baseman. Jacie Pittman extended the inning and made it 2-0 with a two-out RBI single to left center before Johnson hammered a three-run blast - her second of the season - to straightaway center to cap the five-run flurry.
 
Teddi Collins kept Lincoln Memorial rolling in the second, leading off with a single before advancing to second on Dakotah Fraley's sac bunt. After Moose worked an eight-pitch walk, Goins drove in both runners with a triple down the right-field line – the first three-bagger of her career. Hocutt made it 8-0 with a sac fly to right field.
 
Taylor sat down the first two batters she faced in the third inning, but a two-out walk to Bailie Maybry opened the door for the Saints, as Faucette ripped a double into the gap in left center to put the visitors on the board. Caroline Hill drove in Faucette in the next at-bat with a single to close the gap to 8-2. 
 
However, the Lady Railsplitters brought the run-rule back into effect in the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back RBI doubles from Goins and Hocutt.
 
Maybry singled with one out in the fifth, but Faucette ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.
 
The Lady Railsplitters knocked around Limestone starter Courtney Smith (12-3), who allowed a season-high eight earned runs and finished without a strikeout for the first time all season. Smith - the reigning Conference Carolinas Pitcher of the Week - was pulled after giving up six hits and walking one in two innings of work.
 
Reliever Kaylee Freeman didn't fare much better, allowing three hits and two runs over two innings.  
 
Game Two: Limestone 4, Lincoln Memorial 0
 
Three-time Conference Carolinas Pitcher of the Week Josie Weber (15-2) allowed just three hits with two walks and two strikeouts to help the Saints earn the doubleheader split. After giving up a hit in both the first and second innings, Weber didn't surrender another one until Jones singled in the bottom of the seventh.
 
Goins went 1-for-3 with a double, while Jones and Johnson added a single apiece. Lincoln Memorial finished 1-for-8 with runners on base and 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.
 
Justice Smith (8-7) was handed the loss after allowing four hits and two earned runs with two strikeouts over 3.2 innings. Taylor tossed two innings of three-hit, one-run relief.
 
Lineberry went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a double to lead the Limestone attack. Faucette went 1-for-3 with two runs scored, while Sam Thornton recorded a pair of hits with an RBI.
 
Limestone took the lead in the top of the first inning, as Faucette worked a nine-pitch walk and scored on Caroline Hill's double to right field.
 
The bottom half of the Saints batting order manufactured another run in the second frame, as Lineberry doubled to right center and later scored on Thornton's two-out single to make it 2-0.
 
After the two teams traded back-to-back scoreless frames, Limestone tacked on to its lead in the top of the fifth. Faucette sparked the rally with a bunt single, and scored on Lineberry's wind-aided, two-out single that fell in the gap between Fraley and Jones.
 
The Saints added an insurance run in the top of the seventh, as Emma Swearingen doubled into the gap in left center and scored on Tori Noland's two-out single.
 
Aside from the sixth, the Lady Railsplitters put at least one runner on base every inning, but only had three runners reach second base.
 
A fielding error and a hit-by-pitch put two runners on for the home team in the fourth before a fly out ended the threat. In the seventh, Johnson was hit by a pitch before Jones singled back up the middle. However, Collins grounded into a double play to end the game. 

A couple of dazzling defensive plays let the Lady Railsplitters hang around, as Collins made a diving snag in the top of the third to save a run and Jones stole an extra-base hit from Lineberry with a leaping catch in left in the fourth inning.