HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial softball team rallied for a thrilling come-from-behind win in game two of a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader against Carson-Newman to earn a split on Tuesday afternoon at Dorothy Neely Field.  
 
The Lady Railsplitters (19-9, 2-2 SAC) were unable to slow down the Eagles' (21-11, 3-5 SAC) offense in a 12-5 loss in game one. Lincoln Memorial found itself trailing late again in the nightcap until a five-run sixth inning catapulted the Lady Railsplitters to a 7-6 comeback win.
 
Lincoln Memorial completes its 10-game homestand on Wednesday with a nonconference doubleheader against King beginning at 1 p.m.  
 
Game One: Carson-Newman 12, Lincoln Memorial 5
 
All nine Carson-Newman starters recorded at least one hit while six players accounted for multiple hits. The Eagles racked up 17 as a team, including seven in a six-run sixth inning that busted the game open.
 
Kelsie Hocutt was the only LMU player to post multiple hits as the first baseman went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI. Ashlea Hunter drove in two runs with a double as well but the rest of the team finished a combined 3-for-21.
 
Ashlyn Cooper and Abby Fiessinger guided the Carson-Newman aerial attack with three hits apiece. Cooper went 3-for-4 with four RBI and a home run, while Fiessinger went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Katie Pritchett also homered as part of a 2-for-4 effort. Lacie Rinus, who picked up the win in the circle with seven innings of six-hit, eight-strikeout ball, had a pair of doubles and an RBI. KaraLynne Levi added two RBI.
 
Senior righty Brianna Taylor endured her worst outing of the season. She allowed a season-high 17 hits and 10 earned runs over seven innings of work to fall to 8-6 on the season.
 
The Lady Railsplitters put the first two runners on in the bottom of the first inning and took an early 1-0 lead on a sacrifice flyout by Allie Jones, but Carson-Newman answered back in the top of the second on a no-doubt solo shot from Pritchett that stayed just fair down the left-field line.
 
Lincoln Memorial reclaimed the lead just an inning later as Ty-Kella Goins singled back up the middle and scored on a two-out liner through the left side by Emma Webb. The Lady Railsplitters loaded the bases that same inning but were unable to push another run across as a Rinus forced a groundout to limit the damage.
 
The Lady Railsplitters' lead was once again a short-lived one, though, as Carson-Newman scored twice with two outs in the fourth to take its first lead of the game. Pritchett got it started with single while Cooper drove in the game-tying run with a single up the middle. Kristen Toppel put the Eagles ahead 3-2 with another single in the very next at-bat.
 
Nursing a slender 3-2 lead, the Eagles brought 12 batters to the plate and recorded seven straight hits at one point to break the game wide open in their six-run sixth frame.
 
Cooper kicked off the scoring with a three-run dinger, while Levi drove in two more with a double. Haley Caldwell capped the scoring with an RBI single back up the box.
 
The Lady Railsplitters refused to go quietly and plated two runs in the home half of the sixth on a two-run double by Hunter. However, Carson-Newman answered right back with three more runs in the seventh on an RBI double by Fiessinger, a run-scoring double by Rinus and a sac fly.
 
Hocutt drove in the final run of the game with an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh.  
 
Game Two: Lincoln Memorial 7, Carson-Newman 6
 
The Eagles raced out to a 5-1 lead by the middle half of the fifth before the Lady Railsplitters came alive with five runs in the sixth inning and held on down the stretch to salvage the split.
 
Grace Cochran went 3-for-4 with four RBI, including three on the go-ahead triple in that five-run sixth frame. Webb and Goins chipped in two hits and a double apiece while Webb also accounted for an RBI. Hunter doubled for the second time in the doubleheader.
 
Justice Smith was shaky early, giving up three runs and four hits in the top of the first inning. However, the righty settled down to surrender just five hits and three runs the rest of the way. The sophomore moved to 11-3 on the season by virtue of Lincoln Memorial's comeback win.
 
Pritchett led the Carson-Newman attack with a 3-for-4 effort that included three RBI and another homer. Cheyenne Boles went 2-for-4 to stand as the only other Eagle with multiple hits in the contest.
 
Pritchett's two-run single and Taylor Scott's sac fly staked Carson-Newman to a 3-0 lead midway through the first inning. The Lady Railsplitters loaded the bases in the bottom half of that inning but couldn't capitalize and left empty handed.
 
After the Eagles added to their lead on Caldwell's sac fly in the top of the third, the Lady Railsplitters got a run back in the bottom of that inning with an RBI double by Webb.
 
A fielding error allowed Carson-Newman to tack on another run in the fifth, which Lincoln Memorial erased in that same inning with back-to-back doubles from Goins and Cochran.
 
Kaitlyn Walker singled, Hunter doubled, and Bella Buccellato and Teddi Collins walked to push the first run across in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and one out on the board, Cochran cleared them and put Lincoln Memorial back on top with a triple into the gap in left field. The freshman shortstop scored in the very next at-bat on a fielding error by the Eagle second baseman to put the Lady Railsplitters on ahead 7-5.
 
That insurance run proved pivotal, too, as Pritchett blasted a solo shot with two outs in the seventh to trim the deficit to 7-6. After the tying run reached base on a single by Boles, Scott laced a 1-2 pitch deep into centerfield that was snagged by Savannah Daniel on the warning track for the final out of the game.
 
The win snapped LMU's four-game losing streak against Carson-Newman.