ENKA, N.C. – A crucial South Atlantic Conference doubleheader is on the docket on Tuesday for the Lady Railsplitters, who pay the Mars Hill Lions a visit for a twinbill beginning at 2 p.m. at Enka High School.
 
Lincoln Memorial (20-18, 3-9 SAC) dropped a SAC doubleheader against Newberry at Dorothy Neely Field on Sunday, falling 8-6 in eight innings in game one and 11-8 in game two to stumble to 1-9 in its last 10 games. Mars Hill (12-14, 3-9 SAC) has lost nine of its last 11 games after losing both ends of a Sunday doubleheader at Lenoir-Rhyne, 6-5 and 10-1. 
 
Schedule / Game Day Links: 
 
Tuesday, April 10 at Mars Hill (2pm) – Live Stats
Tuesday, April 10 at Mars Hill (4pm) – Live Stats 
 
Quick Hits: 
 
- The Lady Railsplitters outhit Newberry 11-7 in game one but the Wolves never trailed in the contest and built a late 6-2 lead, which Lincoln Memorial erased with two-run rallies in the sixth and seventh innings to force extras. However, the Wolves scored twice in the eighth and shut out LMU in the bottom of that inning to win the game. Ty-Kella Goins and Kelsie Hocutt had three hits apiece while Emma Webb homered for the third time in a five-game stretch. 
 
- A three-run first inning and a five-run fourth inning powered Newberry to an 11-8 sweep-clinching victory in game two. The Lady Railsplitters trailed 11-4 midway through the seventh inning but plated four runs in the bottom of that inning and brought the potential winning run to the plate with only one out. However, back-to-back strikeouts ended the threat and the game. LMU again had 11 hits, but the Wolves produced 16 off starter Brianna Taylor. 
 
- The sweep dropped LMU into a tie with Mars Hill for last place in the SAC standings. In a jumbled league in which Lenoir-Rhyne is the only team with any separation, the Lady Railsplitters are just three games out of fifth place, though. 
 
- Hocutt has hit safely in eight consecutive games with multiple hits in four of those contests to lift her team-leading batting average to .422. The junior also leads the team with seven homers, 33 RBI, 78 total bases and a .458 on-base percentage. In addition to that, she has struck out just nine times in 109 official at-bats. Hocutt is hitting an absurd .455 against SAC opponents. 
 
- Goins and Webb are the only other LMU players hitting above .300. Goins went 4-for-9 in the Newberry series to push her batting average to .381. She leads the team with 48 hits and is tied for the team lead with 10 doubles. Webb has hit safely in six consecutive games to catapult her average to .355. She has homered in three of her last six games. 
 
- The Lady Railsplitter pitching staff has struggled mightily against SAC competition. The trio of Taylor, Justice Smith and Hocutt, who has thrown just two innings in SAC play, have a combined 6.22 earned run average and .370 batting average against in conference action. 
 
- Lincoln Memorial is 0-6 in the first game of SAC doubleheaders this season. 
 
Know the Opponent: 
 
- Mars Hill gave No. 12 Lenoir-Rhyne a run for its money in game one of Sunday's doubleheader. The Lions led 4-2 midway through the fifth inning before the Bears took the lead for good with a three-run sixth inning. Ashley Evans homered and Christiana Marasa had a three-run, pinch-hit double to lead the Mars Hill attack. Ragan Broome also doubled and walked twice in the loss. 
 
- Game two was a much different story as the Bears scored three in the first and five in the second to run rule the Lions 10-1 in five innings. Mars Hill had just three hits in the contest, while a solo homer from Emiley Burriss accounted for the team's only run. 
 
- Mars Hill has a respectable offensive unit that is carrying a .303 batting average, a .372 on-base percentage and a .477 slugging percentage. The pitching has been a different story, though, as the Lions' staff has a league-worst 5.42 ERA and .310 batting average against. 
 
- Broome leads the Lions with a .393 average, 13 doubles, six homers and 27 RBI. The junior infielder is also a perfect 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts. 
 
- Senior Kayleigh Jonas has had a solid season as well with a .346 average, six doubles, three homers and 22 RBI. 
 
- Mars Hill has played far and away the fewest games of any team in the SAC with 26. Lincoln Memorial, Wingate, Carson-Newman and Anderson are tied for the next fewest with 38. 
 
- Six different players have made at least six pitching appearances for the Lions. Casey Stanek and Marasa lead the way with 16 apiece. Stanek has a 4.13 ERA, a 7-6 record and 29 strikeouts over 59.1 innings of work, while Marasa is 4-7 with a 5.59 ERA and 22 K's in 56.1 innings. No other player has an ERA of less than 5.25. 
 
- Mars Hill has yet to play a true home game as poor field conditions have forced the team to host all its "home" games at Enka High School.
 
Series History: 
 
- The Lady Railsplitters are 31-21 all-time against Mars Hill and have won eight straight games in the series dating back to April 2014. Lincoln Memorial swept the Lions with a pair of 10-4 wins last season in Knoxville, Tenn. In LMU's last trip to Mars Hill in 2016, the team blanked the Lions 1-0 and 5-0 to sweep the twinbill.