SALISBURY, N.C. — The top-seeded Lincoln Memorial University softball team's stay in the single-elimination South Atlantic Conference Championship was cut short Sunday.
 
It was the fifth-seeded Trojans who jumped on the Lady Railsplitters early and while LMU responded, it was a little too late as the regular-season SAC champions fell 10-6 at Whitley Field.
 
The good news for LMU (35-13) is it isn't the end. For the first time in program history, the Lady Railsplitters, who were ranked No. 2 in the latest Southeast Region rankings, will be in the NCAA Regional with a chance to host. Those seedings and times will be announced on Selection Monday, May 6, while Southeast Regional play begins May 9-11.
 
Coming into Sunday's matchup, the pair of teams split the regular-season doubleheader. In the Lady Railsplitters' loss, Kayla Pepper (W, 14-12) limited the conference's best offensive attack to just three hits so of course she was the pitcher thrown at LMU.
 
Pepper kept the Lady Railsplitter bats at bay for the first four innings, allowing four of her eight hits and zero runs. Sierra Hucklebee (2-for-3) used just one smack of the ball to get the Lady Railsplitters on the board as the SAC Freshman of the Year sent her sixth home run of the season over the wall, scoring Ty-Kella Goins to make the deficit six, 8-2, in the fifth inning.
 
Mattie Hamilton was one of three Trojans with three hits as Joshlyn Martin and Kayson Boatner joined her, and Kasey Grant and Morgan Charter had two apiece against the Lady Railsplitters' three-pitcher rotation. Hamilton used one of her hits while Charter used a sacrifice fly to wrap up Anderson's 10-run outing.
 
LMU pushed across a four-run sixth inning as Goins drove a three-run shot over the right-center field wall for her sixth of the season, scoring Grace Cochran (HBP) and Jacie Pittman (double). In the next at-bat, Hucklebee drew a walk and rounded the bases for the sixth run as Kelsie Hocutt sent a fly ball to the center fielder that she dropped.
 
 
The Lady Railsplitters' ability to put together big-run innings wasn't ever in doubt, but the Trojans' 7-0 start — powered by a Boatner and Charter home run each —through the first four frames was tough to overcome as the Lady Railsplitters now put the loss in the rearview mirror and look ahead to regionals.