HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters (12-6) split a nonconference doubleheader with the Virginia-Wise Cavaliers (5-7) on Thursday afternoon at Dorothy Neely Field.
Lincoln Memorial racked up 11 hits and raced away with a 6-0 win in game one, but couldn't replicate that effort in a 2-1 loss in game two.
The Lady Railsplitters are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Virginia for the snow-shortened Salem Tournament. That event was originally scheduled to take place over two days, but now Lincoln Memorial will play University of the Sciences (10am), West Liberty (2pm) and Shippensburg (4pm) on Saturday with winter weather projected on Sunday.
Game One: Lincoln Memorial 6, Virginia-Wise 0
Kelsie Hocutt (Wendell, N.C.) went 3-for-4 with three RBI while
Brianna Taylor (Ooltewah, Tenn.) tossed a complete-game shutout to lead the Lady Railsplitters past the Cavaliers in the day's first game.
Hocutt was one of three Lincoln Memorial players to finish with multiple hits in the contest, as
Meredith Johnson (Kenly, N.C.) went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI and
Allie Jones (Ooltewah, Tenn.) reached base in all three plate appearances with a pair of singles and a walk.
Ashlea Hunter (Woodruff, S.C.) also drove in two runs with a double.
Taylor sat the Cavaliers down in order in the first and seventh innings to bookend her second straight complete-game shutout, but had to deal with at least one runner on base in every other inning. However, the junior right-hander forced Virginia-Wise to strand nine runners on base, allowed just five hits and struck out four with three walks to move to 7-3 on the season.
The two teams traded back-to-back scoreless frames to open the game, but the Lady Railsplitters broke through in the bottom of the third. After
Dakotah Fraley (Walkersville, Md.) drew a lead-off walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a wild pitch, Hocutt finished off a gritty 11-pitch at-bat with an RBI single back up the middle to make it 1-0.
Lincoln Memorial tacked on two more runs in the fourth, as Johnson singled and Jones walked to put two runners on for Hunter, who laced a double down the left-field line to score both.
Hocutt helped the Lady Railsplitters push their lead to 4-0 in the fifth, as the Wendell, N.C. native led off with a single and later scored on Johnson's two-out double into the gap in left center.
The Cavaliers brought the potential tying run to the plate in the top of the sixth after Shannon Bennett and Lucindy Lawson singled and Monica Brandts was hit by a pitch. However, with the bases loaded, Taylor caught Olivia Cleary looking on strike three to end the threat.
Lincoln Memorial then cashed in two more runs in the home half of that inning on Hocutt's two-run single, which scored
Jennifer Moose (Statesville, N.C.) and Fraley, who sparked that rally with back-to-back singles.
Lawson went 2-for-2 with a pair of singles to lead the Cavaliers offensively, while Zoe Millard, Bennett and Alexis Sheehan added a single apiece.
Raychel Lapallo took the loss in the circle after allowing five hits and three earned runs with three strikeouts in 3.1 innings of work.
Game Two: Virginia-Wise 2, Lincoln Memorial 1
Cavalier starter Taylor Brandts quieted the Lincoln Memorial attack, allowing just three hits and one unearned run in a complete-game effort. Brandts walked two and struck out five to move to 3-3 on the season.
Ty-Kella Goins (Ramseur, N.C.),
Teddi Collins (Germantown, Ohio) and Fraley mustered the only hits off of Brandts with a single apiece. Collins drove in the Lady Railsplitters' lone run with a suicide squeeze bunt in the bottom of the second. Hocutt went hitless, but reached three times compliments of two walks and a hit by pitch.
Hocutt also provided a solid outing in the circle in relief of starter
Justice Smith (Rockmart, Ga.), who was chased from the game after allowing four hits and a run while recording only two outs. Hocutt gave the Lady Railsplitters a chance to rally by limiting the damage to five hits and only one run with five strikeouts over 6.1 innings.
Four of the first five Virginia-Wise hitters recorded singles in the top of the first inning, with Bennett's base hit driving in Brandts to give the Cavaliers their first run of the doubleheader.
Hocutt worked out of that jam after coming on in relief with two outs, but ceded the only run against her in the top of the second courtesy of a solo home run from Cleary, her second of the season.
The Lady Railsplitters cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the second with some small ball. Goins led off that inning with a single and moved to second thanks to a throwing error. After a sacrifice bunt put Goins on third, Collins laid down a perfectly-placed squeeze bunt to put Lincoln Memorial on the board.
Lincoln Memorial had just one runner get into scoring position over the next three innings, but pieced together a potential rally in the bottom of the sixth. Fraley singled to lead things off and Hocutt was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with one out. However, Brandts forced
BriAnna Schrimpf (Chandler, Ariz.) to foul out while a nice snag at first base took away a base knock for Goins that would have likely tied the game.
The Lady Railsplitters put the tying run on base again in the bottom of the seventh with a single by Collins, but a fly out and an infield pop out ended the game.
Millard and Bridget Henzel combined for four singles to lead Virginia-Wise at the dish.
