Jefferson City, Tenn. — Statement made.
Hours after the Lincoln Memorial University softball team saw its name in the NFCA Division II Coaches Poll for the first time ever, the Lady Railsplitters proved why they were placed at No. 23 heading into their first South Atlantic Conference road trip.
LMU began its historic Wednesday with a game one, 4-3, victory over No. 9 Carson-Newman, which was the Lady Railsplitters' first inside the Eagles' nest since 2013.
The newly-ranked visiting team did one better in its game two, 6-1, victory that marked Lincoln Memorial's first doubleheader sweep at Carson-Newman since the Lady Railsplitters did it on April 28, 1988, with a pair of, 12-1 and 4-3, victories.
LMU's doubleheader-opening victory was its first over a top-10 team since dismantling No. 1 West Florida, 2-1, at home April 9, 2005. On the other hand, the sweep was just the second ever of a ranked team, dating back to April 24, 1999, when the Lady Railsplitters took down No. 19 Alabama-Huntsville in a pair of 1-nil victories.
The Lady Railsplitters' start wasn't the one they wanted, but the finish sure was.
After
Justice Smith (W, 7-0) allowed three runs on two hits — plus a pair of walks and hit batters — in the first inning of the opening game, the junior was calm, cool and collected the rest of the way.
The first frame was Smith's only blemish as she allowed two more hits, but not another run, hit-by-pitch and only one more walk. She struck out four while retiring the last 10 batters from the last out of the fourth inning on to stay undefeated in the circle.
Her offense did the rest once the Lady Railsplitters (25-5, 3-1 SAC) heated up in the third inning, finding their first hit via the bat of
Kelsie Hocutt as she blasted a three-run shot over the left-field wall, scoring
Bella Buccellato and
McKenzie Henry, both who walked.
Buccellato got on base again in the next inning. This time was thanks to a double down the left-field line to trade places with
Grace Cochran on second base as Cochran scored the eventual game-winning run. Six Lady Railsplitters connected on a hit and four were walked, while Buccellato's double was one of five extra-base hits for LMU in the game one victory.
The Lady Railsplitters got off to the same start in the night cap of the doubleheader.
Ty-Kella Goins' second double of the afternoon sliced through center field before she advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from
Sierra Hucklebee and scored on a
McKenzie Henry sac fly for the 1-0 lead.
With two outs, LMU added onto the lead in the next inning when
Kelsie Tuggle (2-for-3) smacked through her first of two doubles, plating
Emma Webb (single) for the two-run advantage. The Eagles got one run back when KaraLynne Levi blasted a solo shot over the wall, but that's as close as Carson-Newman (14-3, 1-3) would get.
Faith Howe (W, 8-2) never surrendered the lead in her seven-inning, complete-game victory, allowing the lone run on three hits while walking one batter and striking out two. From the third inning until the final seventh-inning batter, the freshman allowed just one hit while retiring the last 14 of 16 batters.
The 2-1 LMU advantage carried into the seventh inning, and then the Lady Railsplitters made sure they didn't leave Jefferson City without a sweep as they got to starter Lacie Rinus (L, 6-1) with five of their nine hits.
Tuggle's second double scored Savnnah Daniel, who pinch ran after
Jacie Pittman singled, followed by the grand finale from Goins. The junior blasted a three-run home run just inside the right-field foul pole, plating Tuggle and Buccellato (single) to put the finishing touches on the Lady Railsplitters' 15th win in the last 16 games.
