JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Eagles (34-10, 11-3 SAC) swept a South Atlantic Conference softball doubleheader from the Lady Railsplitters (21-18, 4-10 SAC) on Tuesday afternoon at The Vick. The two losses drop Lincoln Memorial into a tie for eighth place in the league standings with six games left in the regular season.
 
The Lady Railsplitters gave up five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and saw their comeback bid fall short in a 7-3 loss in game one. Lincoln Memorial mustered just four hits in the contest and scored all three of its runs in with two outs in the top of the seventh.
 
In game two, the Eagles rallied from a 2-0 deficit and walked off with a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth to steal a 3-2 win and complete the sweep. The Lady Railsplitters left 11 runners stranded on base and finished 5-for-18 with runners on base in the contest.
 
The sweep snapped a streak of three straight SAC splits for the Lady Railsplitters.
 
Lincoln Memorial hosts league-leading Lenoir-Rhyne and will celebrate Senior Day on Friday. First pitch in game one is set for 2 p.m. at Dorothy Neely Field.
 
Game One: Carson-Newman 7, Lincoln Memorial 3
 
The Eagles used a five-run fourth and a solid outing from Lacie Rinus to cruise in game one.
 
Rinus (17-5) held the Lady Railsplitters to four hits and two earned runs while striking out seven in a complete game to pick up her 17th win of the season.
 
The Carson-Newman offense did its job as well, logging eight hits with six doubles. Abby Fiessinger and Rinus tallied two hits apiece, while Katie Pritchett and Cheyenne Boles drove in two runs each.
 
Allie Jones drove in two runs for the Lady Railsplitters with an inside-the-park home run – her third dinger as many games - in the top of the seventh. Abbie Bruns accounted for the only other RBI of the game for Lincoln Memorial with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. Ty-Kella Goins, Ashlea Hunter and Jacie Pittman also mustered bases knocks for the Lady Railsplitters.
 
Brianna Taylor (13-9) allowed eight hits and seven runs (six earned) over six innings of work to take the loss for the Lady Railsplitters. After the Eagles' five-run fourth, Taylor retired the last seven batters she faced, but the junior right-hander finished with two walks and three hit batters.
 
A two-out error allowed the Eagles to take the lead in the bottom of the first. Kristen Toppel sparked that inning by lacing a single to left field, and later scored on the fielding miscue by Taylor, who bobbled the exchange to her throwing hand on a short grounder by Rinus to make it 1-0.
 
Hunter notched the first hit of the game for the Lady Railsplitters in the top of the second with a two-out single that hugged the left-field line. However, that didn't amount to any runs as she was caught stealing on the first pitch of the next at-bat.  
 
Carson-Newman added another run to its lead in the bottom of the third. Rinus dropped a blooper in front of Jones in left field and hustled into second for the two-out double. Pritchett followed that up by bopping an RBI-double off the wall in left.
 
The game got away from the Lady Railsplitters in the bottom of the fourth, as the Eagles sent 10 to the plate and scored five runs to increase their lead to 7-0. Kennedy Richardson led things off with a double and scored on Fiessinger's double into the gap in right field. Back-to-back hit batsmen loaded the bases for Rinus, who plated another run with a single. A bases-loaded walk and Boles' two-run double completed the scoring for Carson-Newman.
 
Pittman snapped a string of nine straight retired for Rinus and gave the Lady Railsplitters their second hit with a leadoff single in the top of the sixth. Bruns was hit by a pitch later in the inning to put two runners on, but some tough luck kept the Lady Railsplitters off the board, as Dakotah Fraley lined into a double play at first.
 
LMU made things interesting in the seventh and eventually brought the tying run to the plate despite entering the inning trailing 7-0. Goins got things started with a single. After two quick outs, Jones dropped a ball just out of the reach of a diving Alli Webster in left. The ball got past Webster and rolled deep into the left-field corner, allowing Jones to scamper all the way around the bases for an inside-the-park home run.
 
A routine fly ball that was dropped by Rinus put the Lady Railsplitters back in business after Jones' round-tripper. Rinus then allowed another run to cross with two walks and a hit-by-pitch to bring Fraley to the plate with the bases loaded. Fraley gave it a good poke, but centerfielder Richardson caught the ball in front of the wall in right center to end the game.
 
Game Two: Carson-Newman 3, Lincoln Memorial 2 (8 innings)
 
The Lady Railsplitters outhit the Eagles 9-7, but Carson-Newman hit .500 (3-for-6) with runners in scoring position compared to a 3-for-13 effort by the visitors.
 
Meredith Johnson went a perfect 3-for-3 with three singles, while Fraly went 3-for-4 to lead the LMU attack. Jones drove in two runs to account for four of the Lady Railsplitters' five RBI in the doubleheader. Savannah Daniel reached base in three of her four trips to the plate with two hit-by-pitches and a walk.
 
Justice Smith (8-8) was pegged with the loss. The Rockmart, Georgia native allowed just seven hits and two earned runs over seven-plus innings of work, but walked six, including the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth.
 
Taylor Scott and KaraLynne Levi led Carson-Newman with two hits apiece. Boles had a pair of RBI to finish with four in the twinbill. Rinus picked up her second win of the afternoon and 18th of the season after tossing 5.2 innings of scoreless relief.
 
The Lady Railsplitters had a golden opportunity to take an early lead in the top of the first. Fraley led off with a single, Jennifer Moose walked and Johnson singled to load the bases with one out. However, Alli Webster, who lasted just 2.1 innings in the no decision, worked out of that jam by inducing a 4-3 double play.
 
Lincoln Memorial put multiple runners on again in the second, as Smith dropped a two-out single into right field in her fourth career at-bat. Daniel drew a walk to put Smith in scoring position, but a groundout ended the inning.
 
The Lady Railsplitters finally broke through with runners on base in the top of the third and gave the visitors their first lead of the day. Goins led off with a walk and Moose singled back up the middle to put two runners on. A sac bunt by Johnson moved both runners into scoring position for Jones, who ripped a double into the gap in left center to make it 2-0.
 
Smith cruised through the first five innings, allowing just three walks and three singles over that span while seeing just one Carson-Newman base runner get into scoring position. However, the Eagles finally got to the freshman right-hander with a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth. Pritchett put Carson-Newman on the board by slashing a 3-2 pitch into the gap in left center, while Boles tied the game up with a single back up the middle.
 
LMU had a chance to regain the lead in the top of the seventh. Fraley put the Lady Railsplitters in business with a leadoff single, while an error by Pritchett at third base put two runners on. Johnson's single through the right side of the infield then loaded the base, but the left-handed Rinus struck out Jones and forced Hunter to pop out to keep it tied.
 
Scott drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the seventh, but that didn't amount to anything for the Eagles as the game went to extras following Rinus' groundout.
 
With the international rule in effect in the visitor's half of the eighth, BriAnna Schrimpf bunted Hunter over to third base, but the Lady Railsplitters were unable to bring her home after Rinus induced two foul outs.
 
Smith quickly got into trouble in the home half of that inning, as a bunt by Levi skirted between her and Schrimpf at third. After a walk to Pritchett loaded the bases, Smith walked Boles on five pitches to bring the winning run in to seal Carson-Newman's walk-off victory.