BANNER ELK, N.C. — In both of the Lady Railsplitters' games Wednesday afternoon, they scored first before losing it and then snagging it back again.
 
Each time the Lincoln Memorial University softball team re-gained the lead, the unstoppable visiting team never surrendered it as the Lady Railsplitters secured the 7-6 victory in game one and topped off the road trip with a 6-3 win at Lees-McRae for their first road wins of the season.
 
The dubs extended LMU's winning streak to 12 straight, which ties the longest in the program's Division II era dating back to the 2010 team that began the season with the same number of wins. It also pushed Ritchie Richardson two wins closer to his 1,000th victory in his 22nd season.
 
In the opening game, McKenzie Henry (3 RBI, walk) pumped up her bench as she blasted her team-leading eighth home run over the right-center wall, scoring Ty-Kella Goins (walk). The Bobcats (6-8) pieced together a five-run response — plating three in the third and two more in the fourth — but the Lady Railsplitters (22-4) clapped back.
 
LMU scored a pair of runs via back-to-back Henry and Kelsie Hocutt bases-loaded walks before Allie Jones' RBI-single scored Sierra Hucklebee (2-for-3) to knot the score.
 
The Bobcats answered in the bottom half as Faith Cooke (2 HR) blasted a solo shot off Faith Howe (W, 7-2), who tossed 3.1 innings while allowing three runs on four hits and striking out six after she replaced Justice Smith in the third inning, to re-take the lead. But, again, the Lady Railsplitters responded like they did all day along.
 
It was Hucklebee, who pushed across the game-tying run with a two-out single to bring Grace Cochran (1-for-3, walk) around, and then Howe silenced the Bobcats in the bottom of the sixth and Bailey Griffith (S, 3) did in the seventh. Savannah Daniel did the rest — with an assist from three Lees-McRae errors — as she pinch ran and scooted around the bases for the game-winning run.
 
In the final game, Griffith (W, 9-2) was handed the ball again, and she dazzled in the complete-game performance. She allowed three runs on eight hits while striking out five. After allowing a run through the first three innings, the freshman posted zeros through the final four frames.
 
Again, Henry got the scoring starting — this time with a sac fly — but then it took three frames for LMU to find the scoreboard again. But when they did, the Lady Railsplitters never looked back.
 
Audrey Petoskey (1-for-3, walk) and Cochran (1-for-2, walk) knotted back-to-back doubles as Cochran's two-RBI, extra-base hit scored the game-tying and the eventual game-winning run to go up 4-3. The Lady Railsplitters plated two more in the seventh inning to cap off the scoring as Hucklebee hit a sac fly and Henry reached on an error to plate Bella Buccellato.
 
Up Next
LMU will be back home for its home-opening South Atlantic Conference games versus Wingate, starting 1 p.m. Saturday at Dorothy Neely Field.