HARROGATE, Tenn. — The Lincoln Memorial University softball team ended its windy Sunday doubleheader the right way.
After narrowly dropping the first game, 5-4, to No. 18-ranked Young Harris College, the Lady Railsplitters blanked the Mountain Lions, 5-0, in the final game at Dorothy Neely Field.
The victory handed LMU (10-2) its ninth win in the last 10 games, while the night cap win was the Lady Railsplitters' first over a ranked opponent since April 23, 2015, when LMU defeated No. 23 Anderson, 8-0 in five innings, in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament at Catawba.
LMU's last home win over a ranked team was over 10 years ago — a 2-1 victory over No. 1 West Florida April 9, 2005.
Paced by three freshmen, the Lady Railsplitters nearly completed the come-from-behind rally in the first game. Sierra Hucklebee led the pack with a 1-for-2 effort at the plate, slicing across three RBI, a double plus stealing two stolen bases for a perfect 6-of-6 on the season. McKenzie Henry was next as she had a solo home run and a walk, and then there was Kelsie Tuggle's 1-for-2 day with a double and two runs scored.
Hucklebee's two-out double in the bottom of the seventh inning brought the Lady Railsplitters within a run before a groundout ended the threat. Young Harris (8-3) led the entire way after Jill Torres hit a two-out, three-run home run over the center-field wall in the third.
All of the Mountain Lions' five runs came with two outs as they responded each time the Lady Railsplitters did. Hucklebee's first RBI came in the bottom of the third inning on a sac fly, scoring Tuggle after she doubled. Young Harris tacked on another run in the fourth and seventh inning as Henry's solo shot was sandwiched in with an out in the sixth frame.
Bailey Griffith (L, 5-1) suffered her first loss of the season in the circle as the early pitchers' duel cooled off in the third inning. The freshman struck out a season-high nine batters through seven innings of work, while allowing five runs on eight hits. In the opposing circle, Nikkie Kovalsky (W, 6-3) silenced the Lady Railsplitters for most of the afternoon, striking out eight and allowing four hits through six before LMU had two more in the final frame.
In the second game, the Lady Railsplitters didn't waste any time getting off to a hot three-run lead. With the help of an error, LMU knocked across its three runs on four hits as Kella Goins, who hit a leadoff bunt single, scored via an Emma Webb single. Kelsie Hocutt followed it up with a single of her own, advancing to third on the error which also scored Webb. Jacie Pittman (1-for-2) finished the four-hit, three-run first with a double, plating Hocutt for the 3-0 lead.
The Mountain Lions poised their greatest threat in the sixth inning, loading the bases, but Goins shut it down when she dove for a hard-hit grounder at second base and tossed it to first for the final out. Justice Smith (W, 3-0) did the rest in the circle, tossing a scoreless seven innings while allowing seven hits and finishing with three strikeouts.
LMU responded in the bottom half of the sixth frame as Allie Jones ripped a pinch-hit, RBI-single, which relieved Louisa Disi (L, 1-1) for Kennedy Kotula in the circle, but it mattered very little. Goins doubled in the next at-bat, and then Hucklebee batted in her fourth run of the day to solidify the Sunday split.
