HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters (21-20, 4-11 SAC) were swept by the 24th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (41-8, 13-3 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference softball action on Friday at Dorothy Neely Field. The two losses dropped Lincoln Memorial to 10th in the league standings, while Lenoir-Rhyne remained in a tie for first and extended its winning streak to 11 games.
 
The Lady Railsplitters had three different two-run leads in game one, but the Bears rallied to force extra innings. Lenoir-Rhyne scored three runs in the top of the eighth and held on for the 7-5 win. Lincoln Memorial had a 3-2 lead after two innings in game two, but the Bears scored four runs in the fourth and held on for the 8-6 win.
 
The Lady Railsplitters begin the final week of the regular season on Wednesday, April 19 when they host the Mars Hill Lions for a SAC doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.
 
Game One: Lenoir-Rhyne 7, Lincoln Memorial 5 (8 innings)
 
Dakota Keller hit the go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the eighth and Madison Carter drove in another run that inning as the Bears rallied from 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 deficits to escape with a victory in the early game.
 
Dakotah Fraley led the LMU attack by going 3-for-5 with three RBI and hit her sixth home run of the season, while Ty-Kella Goins went 2-for-4 with a double, as the freshman duo accounted for five of the team's nine hits. Ashlea Hunter reached in all three of her plate appearances with a single, an RBI and two walks.
 
Brianna Taylor allowed 10 hits and four runs over 5.2 innings of work, but took a no decision after giving up the game-tying run with two outs in the sixth. Kelsie Hocutt (0-2) was pegged with the loss after giving up three hits and two earned runs over 2.1 frames.
 
Brandi Parks (20-2) earned the win for Lenoir-Rhyne after tossing 6.1 innings of four-hit, two-run (one earned) relief of Sydney Miller, who was chased from the game after surrendering five hits and three runs in her 1.2-inning start.
 
All nine Lenoir-Rhyne starters had at least one hit in the contest, while Sarah Kenley and Sydney Landreth led the team with three hits apiece. That tandem had a double each and combined for three RBI. All told, the Bears produced 13 hits as a unit.
 
Fraley laced the second pitch of the bottom of the first inning over the wall in straightaway centerfield to put the Lady Railsplitters up 1-0, and Goins dropped a single over the shortstop's head to keep the rally going. Allie Jones drove in Goins two batters later with a two-out single into left field to make it 2-0.
 
After going down in order in the top of the first, the Bears cut the deficit in half in the second, as Landreth led off with a single and scored on Mackenzie Cates' base knock.
 
However, Lincoln Memorial erased that in the bottom of the second on Fraley's second RBI of the contest – a two-out single through the left side. Hunter scored on the play after leading off with a bunt single.  
 
Lenoir-Rhyne answered right back in the next inning, closing the gap to 3-2 on Landreth's RBI single, which scored Erin Boone after the lead-off hitter opened the frame with a knock back up the middle.
 
Fraley drove in her third run of the game and provided the Lady Railsplitters with some insurance in the bottom of the fourth, lining a single into right field to score Hunter, who drew a leadoff walk.
 
The Bears pulled to within one again in the top of the fifth on back-to-back doubles by Kenley and Landreth. Lenoir-Rhyne threatened to due further damage with runners on second and third, but Taylor wiggled out of the jam by forcing Madison Poe to fly out to centerfield.
 
Taylor found herself in trouble again in the sixth, as a pair of singles put two runners on for Kenley with two outs. The senior catcher came through in the clutch, ripping a single just out of reach of the diving Fraley to even the score at 4-4. Hocutt was brought in to relieve Taylor after that, and sat Landreth down for the first time in the game to limit the damage to one run.
 
After Hocutt worked a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, the Lady Railsplitters had two chances to drive in the winning run in the bottom of that inning after Goins doubled and Jennifer Moose singled. However, a pair of infield fly outs ended the frame and sent the game to extras.
 
The Lady Railsplitters brought one run home in the bottom of the eighth on Hunter's sac fly and eventually put the tying run on base with two outs. However, Fraley flew out deep down the line in left to end the game.
 
Game Two: Lenoir-Rhyne 8, Lincoln Memorial 6
 
The Bears used a four-run fourth inning to overcome an early deficit and stiff-armed a pair of late rally attempts to complete the sweep.
 
Schrimpf led the Lady Railsplitters' 11-hit effort by going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, while Fraley and Hunter added two hits apiece. Fraley drove in two runs to combine for five in the doubleheader, while Hunter scored twice.
 
Justice Smith, Taylor and Hocutt all took a crack at the Bears in the circle. Smith threw 4.2 innings, allowing six hits and three runs with three walks over that span. Taylor (13-10) was stuck with the loss after surrendering four hits and four runs (one earned) over two innings of relief.
 
Boone went 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Keller added two hits, an RBI and a run scored for the Bears, who finished with 11 hits in the contest. Madison Carter was the only L-R starter to go hitless. Ty Triplett picked up the win after allowing seven hits and three runs over 4.1 innings of relief. Parks nabbed the save after earning the win in game one, tossing 2.2 innings with three runs allowed.
 
Smith kept the Bears off the board in the top of the first despite issuing consecutive two-out walks, but couldn't prevent Lenoir-Rhyne from scoring in the second after walking Poe. Mackensi Swain doubled after the free pass to put two runners in scoring position for Boone, who drove in both with a double into right center.
 
The Lady Railsplitters responded in their half of that inning, bringing nine hitters to the plate to take the lead with a three-run rally. Three straight singles from Hunter, Meredith Johnson and BriAnna Schrimpf cut the deficit in half. After Jacie Pittman worked an eight-pitch walk to turn the lineup over, Fraley laced a two-out double into the gap in right center to score two runs and give Lincoln Memorial a 3-2 lead.
 
The Bears used a similar effort to regain the lead in the top of the fourth, scoring four runs off of five hits. Cates sparked the rally with a leadoff shot to left field – her seventh dinger of the season. Poe and Keller kept it going after that with singles, while an error moved the pair into scoring position. A sac fly from Boone gave the Bears the lead, while run-scoring knocks by Christina Walker and Kenley tacked on two more and made it 6-3.
 
The back-and-forth nature of the game persisted in the bottom of the fourth, as the Lady Railsplitters closed the gap to 6-5 with two more runs. Pittman doubled off the wall and Fraley singled to start the inning. Moose's sac fly put the first run on the board before Jones drove in another with a double into left center.
 
The Bears added an insurance run in the sixth, as pinch hitter Savannah Davis led off with a single and scored on Landreth's two-out single back up the middle.
 
Lincoln Memorial conjured up a little something and brought the potential go-ahead run to the plate in the home half of the sixth after Goins drew a two-out walk and Moose drilled a double down the left-field line. However, Jones flew out to left field to keep the score locked at 7-5.
 
Lenoir-Rhyne tacked on another run in the seventh on Keller's RBI single.
 
Some tough luck thwarted the Lady Railsplitters' comeback bid in the bottom of the seventh. Singles from Hunter and Schrimpf sandwiched around a fielding error loaded the bases with no outs. Smith lined the first pitch she saw between the Lenoir-Rhyne first and second basemen, but the ball struck Schrimpf for the first out of the inning.
 
An RBI groundout by Pittman put a run on the board after that, but Parks struck out Fraley to end the contest.