CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Lady Railsplitters begin the most daunting segment of their schedule on Friday afternoon when they pay the No. 19 Queens Royals a visit for a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader.

Lincoln Memorial (19-11, 2-2 SAC) concluded its 10-game homestand on Wednesday by dropping a pair to King in nonconference action. The Lady Railsplitters were shutout for just the third time all season in a 1-0 setback in game one before the Tornado completed the sweep with a 7-4 win in the nightcap. Prior to that, LMU split a SAC twinbill with Carson-Newman on Tuesday at Dorothy Neely Field, falling 12-5 in game one before rallying for a 7-6 victory in game two.

Queens (27-7, 4-4 SAC) was rolling early in the season and sat at 26-4 after sweeping a doubleheader against Newberry on March 23. However, the Royals have hit a bit of a bump in the road of late, as the team split with Carson-Newman last Sunday before being swept in dominant fashion at Catawba on Tuesday by scores of 5-2 and 8-0.

Schedule / Game Day Links:

Friday, March 30 at Queens (1pm) – Live Stats / Audio
Friday, March 20 at Queens (3pm) – Live Stats / Audio

Quick Hits:

- King starter Leslie Odom guided King to a 1-0 win in game one of Wednesday's doubleheader, holding Lincoln Memorial one hit shy of its season-low mark with three. Ashlea Hunter had a pair of singles and finished 2-for-2 at the plate while the rest of the team combined to go 1-for-20. Brianna Taylor was the hard-luck loser, falling to 8-7 on the season despite surrendering just eight singles and one earned run over seven innings.

- Ty-Kella Goins and Grace Cochran contributed two hits apiece while Elise Bruce belted the first home run of her career in game two against King, but that was not enough to overcome a Tornado attack that piled up 11 hits and built a 6-1 lead by the fifth inning. With the loss, Lincoln Memorial was swept by King for the first time since the 2010 season.

- The Lady Railsplitters have split their first two SAC doubleheaders thanks to a pair of thrilling come-from-behind victories. In the team's SAC openers against Catawba on March 18, Lincoln Memorial trailed the Indians 5-0 through two innings before rallying to win 8-7 on a walk-off two-run homer by Kelsie Hocutt. The Lady Railsplitters were dead in the water in game two against Carson-Newman, trailing 5-1 midway through the fifth. However, a five-run sixth inning propelled Lincoln Memorial to a 7-6 win.

- LMU has struggled mightily in the front end of SAC doubleheaders, allowing an average of 11 runs per game. The Lady Railsplitters lost game one to Catawba 10-6 and to Carson-Newman 12-5.

- After facing Queens on the road on Friday, it won't get any easier for the Lady Railsplitters, who make a trip to No. 12 Lenoir-Rhyne on Monday before concluding their six-game road trip with a pair of matchups at Anderson on Wednesday. The Trojans are not currently ranked in the national poll but have won 10 straight games and sit atop the SAC standings with a 6-0 mark.

- Cochran – a freshman shortstop – has recorded multiple hits in three of her last four games to lift her average from .229 to .306. She went 3-for-4 in game two against Carson-Newman with four RBI and added two hits in the second game against King.

- Cochran is one of five every day players hitting over .300 for the Lady Railsplitters this season along with Goins (.394), Hocutt (.405), Emma Webb (.348) and Allie Jones (.314).

Know the Opponent:

- Queens is a stellar offensive team that leads the SAC in on-base percentage with a .412 clip and ranks second in slugging percentage with a .487 mark. The Royals also lead the league in total runs, doubles, RBI, extra-base hits, total bases, walks and hit-by-pitches. In addition to that, they have blasted the second-most home runs with 28.

- The Royals are merely an average pitching team with a 3.03 team earned run average and .254 batting average against. In SAC play, those numbers rise to 5.12 and .336, respectively.

- The Queens offensive attack is led by the quartet of Sara Ingoldsby, Jordan Hunt, Abby Lathan and Sydney Ditto. Ingoldsby is batting .388 with eight doubles and 21 RBI, while Hunt has produced a .340 average with 10 doubles, six homers and 26 RBI. Lathan is hitting .359 with six doubles and six homers, while Ditto is the most impactful hitter with a .404 average, 13 doubles, six homers and 29 RBI.

- The Royals are young in the circle with a sophomore and two freshmen leading the cavalry. Sophomore Courtney Pearson is the ace with an 11-5 record, a 2.67 ERA and 108 strikeouts over 112.2 innings of work. Freshman Shannon McGuire has acquired an 11-1 record with 65 strikeouts and a 3.25 ERA, while Ali Celiberti is 5-1 with a 3.57 ERA.

- Queens is 6-1 at home compared to 13-5 on the road. The Royals are batting over 100 points better at home with a .367 clip compared to a .262 mark on the road. The team is also producing 8.7 runs on its home field compared to 5.05 on the road.

- The Royals lead the league with 74 stolen bases. Ditto is second in the SAC with 16 while Sabrina Martinez is third with 14 despite making just 32 plate appearances this season.

Series History:

- The Lady Railsplitters own an 8-4 edge in the all-time series but the two teams have split the last two doubleheaders. Last season in Harrogate, Queens won game one 7-4 before LMU answered with an 8-4 victory in game two. When the two teams last played in Charlotte in 2016, LMU lost game one 11-3 and won game two 6-3.

- Lincoln Memorial is 3-1 all-time in Charlotte. The Lady Railsplitters swept a doubleheader there in 2014 by scores of 3-1 and 7-6.