HARROGATE, Tenn. — It was just another day at the office for the Lincoln Memorial University softball team.
The Lady Railsplitters scattered across 14 hits on 16 runs as they took down Milligan College in run-rule fashion in game one, 8-0, before securing the sweep in an 8-3 victory at Dorothy Neely Field Tuesday afternoon.
LMU (9-1) was en route of its eighth straight win via the bats of
McKenzie Henry and
Ty-Kella Goins. In the opening game, Henry finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, her second home run of the season and four RBI, while capping her day 1-for-4 with a triple, run scored and an RBI.
Goins was stellar from start to finish. The junior's lone hit (1-for-1) in the first game was her first home run of the season — though this one didn't even have to leave the playing field — plus a pair of walks and runs scored and an RBI. In the night cap, the standout second baseman continued her perfect day with a 4-for-4 effort at the plate, which saw another blast — this one going over the center-field wall — a triple, two RBI and four runs scored to tie her for the second-most in program history.
And Goins didn't waste any time getting her career day started. She used her first at-bat to put the Lady Railsplitters on the board as she slapped a hard-hit ball into left field, which the fielder attempted to dive for but came up short of. So, in response, the junior scooted around the bases and home for the inside-the-park home run and quick 1-0 lead.
The Lady Railsplitters followed the junior's lead, scoring three more runs via a Henry double, scoring
Sierra Hucklebee (walk),
Allie Jones' RBI-groundout to plate Henry and an
Audrey Petoskey single, which scored
Emma Webb (walk).
LMU didn't score anymore runs until the fourth inning, but
Bailey Griffith (W, 5-0) made sure Milligan (0-4) didn't at all. The freshman ace allowed just three hits while striking out four in the five-inning victory.
It took two swings for the Lady Railsplitters to secure the run-rule as Hucklebee (1-for-2, RBI) knocked a double through, scoring Goins (walk) and then Henry did the rest with a three-run blast over the left-field wall.
In the final game, LMU saw three runs score in the first inning thanks to a hit and two Milligan fielding errors. The Buffs got back two of those runs as they got to starter
Faith Howe, scoring one on the freshman before
Justice Smith relieved her in the second frame.
Milligan scored its second via a sac fly, but after that despite a RBI-single from Morgan Overholser in the seventh inning, the Buffs weren't successful versus the junior.
Smith (W, 2-0) allowed just one run on three hits through her 5.2 innings of relief and by the time Milligan got that third run, it was far too late.
In-between, even with five total pitching changes throughout the day, the Lady Railsplitters never cooled off. LMU tacked on two runs in the third and fourth inning each, while placing one more in the sixth frame.
Two bases-loaded hit-by-pitches scored the pair in the third inning, and then Goins was responsible for the two-run third as she shot her second home run of the day over the center-field wall, scoring
Tori Voiles, who got her first-career start and singled.
Again, it was Henry with the honors of capping off the scoring when she busted the ball off the top of the center-field wall and hustled her way to third for a triple, scoring Goins for the eighth and final run.
Quick Feet
- In total, the Lady Railsplitters had four stolen bases — Goins,
Kelsie Tuggle and Hucklebee (2) — to continue their perfect start to the season on the bases (14-for-14).
Up Next
- LMU welcomes region opponent Young Harris for a doubleheader, beginning Saturday at 1 p.m.
