HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters (11-5) made quick work of the undermanned Bluefield State Big Blues (0-10) with a pair of five-inning run-rule victories on Wednesday afternoon at Dorothy Neely Field. Lincoln Memorial scattered 13 hits and took advantage of seven errors in a 19-0 win in game one before using four Big Blue miscues to win an 8-0 decision in game two.
The Lady Railsplitters return to action on Thursday with a doubleheader against the Virginia-Wise Cavaliers at Dorothy Neely Field. First pitch in game one is set for 1 p.m.
Game One: Lincoln Memorial 19, Bluefield State 0 (5 innings)
The Lady Railsplitters brought at least three runs across in each of their four plate appearances and scored 16 unearned runs off of seven Bluefield State errors to cruise to the win.
BriAnna Schrimpf (Chandler, Ariz.) went 3-for-3 with a double, two RBI and three runs scored to lead the Lincoln Memorial attack, while
Meredith Johnson (Kenly, N.C.) tallied three hits with an RBI and four runs scored.
Dakotah Fraley (Walkersville, Md.) and
Jennifer Moose (Statesville, N.C.) combined for four hits and four RBI, while Fraley had a double and a stolen base. Three other players also contributed a hit in the contest for the Lady Railsplitters.
Brianna Taylor (Ooltewah, Tenn.) walked the first batter she faced and allowed Ashley Rasnake to drop a single into center field in the next at-bat, but retired 15 of the final 17 Bluefield State batters from that point on. She finished with a season-high eight strikeouts and just three hits allowed in the complete-game shutout to improve to 6-3 on the season.
The Lady Railsplitters scored six runs in the first and third innings while posting a three-spot in the second to race out to a commanding 15-0 lead. Every LMU hitter reached base safely over that span, while Schrimpf had an RBI in both the first and third frames.
Lincoln Memorial tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the fourth to match the seventh-highest run total in program history. It was the most runs since the 2005 team tallied 20 against Georgetown.
Rasnake, Shonte Cargill and Marceda Lee were the only three players to post a hit in the contest for the Big Blues, while Cargill reached base another time on a walk.
Emily Day took the loss after allowing 19 runs – three earned – and 13 hits over four innings of work. She walked seven and struck out two to fall to 0-7.
Game Two: Lincoln Memorial 8, Bluefield State 0 (5 innings)
Freshman right-hander
Justice Smith (Rockmart, Ga.) struck out eight and allowed just one hit without a run in the Lady Railsplitters' second complete-game shutout of the afternoon. A lonely bunt single was the only base runner that the Big Blues could muster off of Smith.
The offense provided plenty of run support for Smith, scoring at least one run in every inning, including a four-run outburst in the bottom of the second.
Abbie Bruns (Lewisburg, Ohio) recorded her first career hit and drove in three runs with a two-run single in the second and an RBI groundout in the third. Johnson also had an RBI, her second of the doubleheader, while
Kaitlyn Walker (Knoxville, Tenn.) tallied her first career hit and RBI in the contest.
Bluefield State committed four more errors to help the Lady Railsplitters score four unearned runs off of Rasnake, who allowed six hits and walked four over four innings of work to fall to 0-2 on the season.
Johnson plated the first run of the game with a two-out double in the bottom of the first, while Bruns drove in two runs with her single in the second stanza. The Lady Railsplitters scored two more runs that inning compliments of an error on a ball put in play by
Kristen McAndrew (Belmont, N.C.).
Bruns' RBI groundout and Walker's run-scoring single increased LMU's lead to 7-0 in the third inning, while the run rule was brought into effect the next inning thanks to a two-out error.
