HARROGATE, Tenn. – A pair of valiant, late comeback bids fell short for the Lady Railsplitters in a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Newberry on Sunday at Dorothy Neely Field.
Lincoln Memorial (20-18, 3-9 SAC) fell behind by four runs, rallied to force extra innings and ultimately succumbed to the Wolves (26-14, 7-5 SAC) 8-6 in eight innings in game one. After tumbling into a seven-run hole in the nightcap, the Lady Railsplitters rallied once again to bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate. However, Newberry held on to complete the sweep with an 11-8 triumph.
The Lady Railsplitters hit the road on Tuesday for a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader against Mars Hill at Enka High School at 2 and 4 p.m.
Game One: Newberry 8, Lincoln Memorial 6 (8 innings)
The Lady Railsplitters use back-to-back two-run innings to climb out of a late 6-2 hole and force extra innings but the Wolves scored twice in the eighth inning to steal the headlines.
Lincoln Memorial outhit Newberry 11-7 and scattered four extra-base hits.
Emma Webb went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, a double and two RBI,
Kelsie Hocutt finished 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBI, including the game-tying knock in the seventh, and
Ty-Kella Goins collected three hits with a double and a run scored.
Justice Smith went seven innings in the circle, allowing five hits and six runs – five earned – with four walks, two strikeouts and two hit-by-pitches. She did not factor into the decision, though, as she was replaced by
Brianna Taylor in the eighth. Taylor was saddled with the loss after allowing a pair of hits and two runs (one earned) to cross.
The Wolves needed just one hit to put three runs on the board in the second inning. Smith walked three and hit another to bring the first run across, while a sac fly made it 2-0. Sydney Patterson drove in the final run with a two-out RBI single.
Lincoln Memorial chopped the Newberry lead down to 3-2 following a sac fly from
Jacie Pittman in the third and Webb's solo shot in the fourth, but the Wolves tacked on three more runs in the sixth. Myranda Dills drove in one with a single and Daphne Peyton brought the final two across with a two-run single.
Facing a 6-2 deficit, the Lady Railsplitters scored two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh to force extra innings. Hocutt kick-started the sixth-inning rally with an RBI triple and later scored on
Kaitlyn Walker's RBI knock.
Goins and
Allie Jones singled to set the stage for the Lady Railsplitters' two-run seventh inning. Webb plated Goins with an RBI groundout before Hocutt tied it up with a clutch two-out single.
However, the Wolves made the Lady Railsplitters' comeback a mere footnote by scoring twice in the eighth. A fielder's choice from Dills helped Newberry regain the lead before Patterson plated an insurance run with a single with two outs.
Three straight groundouts ended the bottom half of the eighth and the game for the Lady Railsplitters.
Lincoln Memorial left eight runners stranded on base and finished 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position in the contest. By contrast, Newberry was 5-for-11 in RBI chances.
Game Two: Newberry 11, Lincoln Memorial 8
The Wolves used a three-run first inning and a five-run fourth inning to build a big lead, and held off a furious comeback by the Lady Railsplitters to finish off the sweep. Newberry outhit Lincoln Memorial 16-11 and took advantage of three walks.
Eight of LMU's nine starters reached base at least once in the contest. Hocutt went 2-for-4 with three RBI and a double,
Ashlea Hunter drove in three runs with a double while going 2-for-3, and Jones and Walker added two hits apiece to lead the Lady Railsplitter attack.
Four players finished with multiple hits for the Wolves. Patterson went 4-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored to lead that quartet. Natalie Willis had a day to remember, driving in four runs with not one but two inside-the-park home runs. Haley Simonds was 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Paige Meyer added three hits with a pair of runs knocked in.
Taylor took the loss after allowing 10 earned runs and 16 hits while striking out two and walking three over seven innings of work.
Chelsey Cunningham picked up the win after providing five solid innings of relief. She allowed four hits and five earned runs with four strikeouts and three walks to move to 4-1 on the season.
A two-run triple by Meyer and an RBI single by Haley Wildes gave the Wolves a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Hocutt erased two of those runs and nearly tied the score in the bottom half of the first with a two-run double that missed clearing the fence by mere inches.
But Newberry broke the game open in the fourth by bringing nine batters to the plate and scoring five runs. Simonds capped the big inning with a three-run double to increase the Wolves' lead to 8-2.
An RBI double from Hunter put the Lady Railsplitters back on the board in the fourth but Willis raced around the bases for the first of two inside-the-park homers in the sixth and added another in the seventh to put Newberry ahead 11-4.
The Lady Railsplitters didn't go quietly, though, as Jones drove in two runs with a double and Hocutt scored another with an RBI single. Hunter cut the deficit to 11-8 with an RBI single back up the middle and brought the potential winning run to the plate with one out.
However, Emily Marchbanks struck out
Audrey Petoskey and Goins to strand the bases loaded and end the game.
