HARTSVILLE, S.C. — So far through five South Atlantic Conference doubleheaders, the Lincoln Memorial University softball team hasn't suffered a doubleheader sweep, splitting four of them while winning one.
 
It's a significant change from last year, where the Lady Railsplitters were swept in three of the first five conference doubleheaders and were unable to squeeze out a sweep of their own. The improvement mirrors the ranking in front of LMU as the Lady Railsplitters (28-8, 6-4 SAC) moved up a spot to No. 18 in the most recent NFCA Division Coaches Poll, which was released Wednesday before the first pitch versus Mars Hill.
 
No. 18 LMU now takes its focus to Coker College, who received two votes in the NFCA Poll, for a pair of games that could potentially hand head coach Ritchie Richardson his 999th and 1,000th wins midway through his 23rd season overall and second at his alma mater.
 
The Basics
Saturday, April 6 at Coker — 2 & 4 p.m.
Live Stats (Game One / Game Two)
Video
 
Quick Hits
-Since opening road conference play with a dominating sweep of then-No. 7 Carson-Newman, the second-place Lady Railsplitters have split three straight series' with Queens, Newberry and most recently Mars Hill to pair with their SAC-opening split with then-No. 20 Wingate March 16.
 
-Mars Hill really challenged LMU with its conference second-best .332 batting average, which is also 16th among division II, as the Lions scattered 29 hits over 14 innings compared to the Lady Railsplitters' 13 total. Seventeen of those came in the second game, but LMU was able to pull out a win in the second game behind Faith Howe (10-3) and Justice Smith (S, 2) in the circle.
 
-Emma Webb continued her imposing season, and even though her nine-game hit streak was snapped in game one, the sophomore third baseman went 2-for-3 in the night cap with her first home run of the season to put the Lady Railsplitters up big early.
 
-Kelsie Tuggle also had a first, knotting her first triple in an LMU uniform to score Bella Buccellato, who got on base via her seventh double of the season. Ty-Kella Goins used her 24th RBI to plate Tuggle's 14th run scored and cap off the Lady Railsplitters' scoring.
 
-In the doubleheader-opening game, Goins added onto her conference-leading doubles (15) with a pair, which is also good for sixth in the Division II. McKenzie Henry also ended her hitless streak with two hits and the same number of RBI to sit back in first place tied for 41 runs batted in.
 
-Goins' double efforts, plus Webb's 11 and Grace Cochran's 10, have paced LMU has the conference-leading double team with 80. The Lady Railsplitters are also first in runs (254), extra-base hits (121), walks (133), hit-by-pitch (38) and on-base percentage, while being second in slugging percentage (.528), hits (311) and RBI (229) and third in home runs (31).
 
-LMU is also third in team batting average (.326), where Goins' .388 and Webb's .385 lead the way, and Buccellato (.339), Sierra Hucklebee (.327), Cochran (.326) and Kelsie Hocutt (.311) follow.
 
Know the Opponent
-Before getting swept by Newberry Wednesday, the Cobras (25-11, 4-5) were in sole possession of fourth place in the conference. Now, Coker is in eighth place as five teams — Wingate, Newberry, Queens, Mars Hill and Catawba — as in a tie for third place below LMU and top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne.
 
-That sweep was the second for the Cobras this season as they were beaten in two straight again Mars Hill in their SAC opener. Since then, they swept Wingate, split with Carson-Newman and took down Lenoir Rhyne in five innings before the second game was postponed.
 
-Freshman hurler Isabelle Mullen (8-2) has been a great addition for Coker as she leads the conference with her 1.51 ERA in 69.2 innings. Taylor Forehand, a senior, paces the SAC five saves — one more than LMU's Bailey Griffith — and is third behind her 1.70 ERA in 66 innings pitched that mirrors her 5-1 record. Forehand's 62 strikeouts lead her pitching staff while Mullen has 57 and Christine Carver (7-6) has 56 in her 69.2 innings pitched.
 
-In the batter's box, Chloe Pelham's .435 batting average is third best in the conference and paces the Cobras' .260 team average. Pelham has a team-leading 40 hits is tied for second with 10 stolen bases. Her 26 runs scored is tied with fellow freshman Ashley Meckley (.359) for a team-high, while she is in a three-way tie with seven doubles and is third with 16 RBI.
 
-As a team, the Cobras are towards the bottom in offensive rankings, coming in at 10th in home runs (14), ninth in RBI (137) and eighth in extra-base hits (74). However, Coker is third in triples (12), fifth in doubles (48) and second in stolen bases (40), while being first in ERA (2.18), batting average against (.205) and second in shutouts (six).
 
Head-to-Head
-Between 2000 and 2010, these two teams only met four times with both winning two apiece. Since then, the Lady Railsplitters have gone 4-6 versus the Cobras once conference play began.
 
-LMU has only defeated Coker once in Hartsville, S.C., lastly in 2015 when the Lady Railsplitters won, 8-4, for a 1-3 record on the road. Before last year's 2-1 win at home, LMU lost four straight to the Cobras.