SALISBURY, N.C. – Brianna Taylor wove a complete-game gem in the late game to help the Lady Railsplitters (20-15, 3-7 SAC) split a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader with the Catawba Indians (10-29, 3-7 SAC) on Saturday afternoon at Whitley Field.
 
Lincoln Memorial fell behind early in game one, but rallied back to tie it up in the top of the sixth before a walk-off double gave the Indians a 2-1 win. The Lady Railsplitters rode Taylor's stellar start to return the favor with a 2-1 win in game two.
 
The Lady Railsplitters return to action on Wednesday, April 5 when they host the Brevard Tornados for a SAC doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.
 
Game One: Catawba 2, Lincoln Memorial 1
 
Lincoln Memorial outhit the Indians 7-5, but Ashley Wagoner laced a pitch-hit, walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh to help Catawba win game one. The Lady Railsplitters left seven runners stranded on base in the contest.
 
Ty-Kella Goins went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a steal, while Allie Jones also added a pair of singles. Ashlea Hunter drove in the Lady Railsplitters' lone run with a single. BriAnna Schrimpf tallied LMU's only extra-base hit with a double in the fifth.
 
Brianna Taylor (11-7) was saddled with the hard-luck loss despite allowing just two hits and two runs with two strikeouts over six innings of relief. Justice Smith made the start and lasted just three batters, giving up three hits and a run during that short-lived stint.
 
Brooke Walser (7-11) picked up the win for Catawba following a complete game that included seven hits, one run, two walks and four strikeouts.
 
The first three batters hit safely for the Indians in the bottom of the first. Kristen Stinnard led off with a double and Taylor Martin followed with a single to put runners on the corners. A muffed throw on a pick-off attempt at first base allowed Stinnard to score. Grace Holland followed with another double, but Martin was caught in a rundown between third and home for the first out of the inning. Taylor took over for Smith after that, recording a strikeout and forcing a fly out to limit the damage to one run.
 
Taylor faced the minimum in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings and induced a pair of double plays over that span to give the Lady Railsplitters an opportunity to win.
 
Schrimpf sparked a potential rally for the Lady Railsplitters in the top fifth with a leadoff double. Two batters later, a sacrifice bunt moved pitch runner Kristen McAndrew to third base. After a walk by Dakotah Fraley, Jennifer Moose laid down a bunt between the first baseman and pitcher. Walser fielded the ball and threw out McAndrew at home to keep LMU off the board.
 
The Lady Railsplitters finally did break through in the sixth stanza, as Goins led off with an infield single, advanced to second on a sac bunt and scored on Hunter's single down the left-field line to tie the game at 1-1.
 
After another 1-2-3 inning for Taylor, Lincoln Memorial threatened again in the seventh. Jones led off with a single and moved into scoring position on a bunt. With two outs, Moose laced a single into left field, but Jones was thrown out at the plate to end the frame.
 
Holland was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the seventh and set the stage for Wagoner's late-game heroics. Following a single and a fly out, Wagoner came off the bench and ripped the 0-1 pitch to left center to score Holland.
 
Game Two: Lincoln Memorial 2, Catawba 1
 
The Lady Railsplitters accounted for just four hits, but Taylor (12-7) shut down the Indians by allowing just six hits and one run with three strikeouts in a complete game to lead Lincoln Memorial to victory. With her 12th win of the season, the Ooltewah, Tennessee native matches the highest win total of her career in the Blue and Gray.
 
Fraley was responsible for two of LMU's four hits with a 2-for-4 effort. Schrimpf and Jones added the other two hits, while McAndrew had the team's only RBI with the game-winning sac fly in the fourth.
 
Kaylee Cook (2-13) was dealt the loss after allowing two hits and two runs with three walks over 3.1 innings. Walser blanked Lincoln Memorial over 3.2 innings of relief, giving up just two hits and two walks.
 
Wagoner led the Indian offense with a pair of hits, while four other Catawba players posted a single apiece in the contest.
 
Catawba used some small ball in the bottom of the third to manufacture the first run of the game. Nine-hole hitter Keri Faulkner led off with a single, moved all the way to third on back-to-back sac bunts and scored on Holland's two-out single to give the Indians a 1-0 lead.
 
The Lady Railsplitters responded by scoring two runs on two hits and two errors in the top of the fourth. Goins drew a leadoff walk to spark the rally before Abbie Bruns reached on an error by Wagoner at first. Schrimpf singled in the next at-bat, but Goins was thrown out at the plate. However, a throwing error by the catcher brought Bruns home, while McAndrew's sac fly made it 2-1 in favor of the visitors.
 
That proved to be enough run support for Taylor, who dealt with just three base runners the remainder of the game.
 
Two of those came in the fourth, as singles for Wagoner and Leah Huggins gave the Indians some life with one out in the bottom of that inning. However, Taylor forced Monica Taylor to fly out and struck out Faulkner to keep the Lady Railsplitters in front.
 
Wagoner singled with two outs in the sixth, but that was the closest thing to a rally for the Indians over the final two innings.