ANDERSON, S.C. – Recently jumping up one spot in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association rankings from No. 8 to No. 7 earlier in the day, the reigning South Atlantic Conference regular season champions weren't able to get their league schedule started on the right foot Wednesday afternoon.

The Lincoln Memorial University softball team, in a scoring marathon with the Anderson Trojans, weren't able to complete a full comeback in the first outing of the day, dropping a 10-9 extra-inning affair despite once trailing 9-6 in the seventh frame.

The Lady Railsplitters (11-3, 0-2) gave up another Anderson flurry in the nightcap to fall victim of a Trojan sweep, losing 11-5 to dramatically halt their 10-game winning streak.

With a top-ten matchup on the horizon with North Georgia approaching this weekend, Lincoln Memorial couldn't match the firepower displayed by Anderson in either game Wednesday, instead coming up short in the 2020 conference doubleheader.
 
Game 1 – Anderson def. No. 7 Lincoln Memorial 10-9 (8)
 
With the Trojans (12-4, 2-0) themselves selected by the SAC's coaches as the preseason third place competitor in the league, and perhaps still remembering their NCAA Southeast Regional exit at the hands of the Lady Railsplitters last spring, Anderson unleashed a scoring barrage against LMU, which the blue and gray were able to keep up with in spurts, but couldn't come through in the clutch for the extra-inning stunner in Wednesday's opener.

Senior second baseman Ty-Kella Goins began the afternoon with a bang, sending in a solo homer in the very first at-bat of the series. LMU was able to hold the Trojans scoreless until the bottom of the third, when Anderson took their first lead with three unanswered scores.

Now trailing by two, Lincoln Memorial roared back in the top of the fourth, first on an Emma Webb sacrifice fly to score junior Grace Cochran, polished off by a two-RBI home run courtesy of catcher Audrey Petoskey, scoring herself and Sierra Hucklebee.

Serving as the second long-ball of the contest, LMU turned out to be halfway there in their home run total for the day, sending in two more, with the next to come later in Game 1. With Petoskey's fourth inning homer, the junior secured her fourth such play of 2020 to put the Lady Railsplitters ahead again 4-3.

That slim lead didn't last, however, with an Anderson RBI-single later that same inning knotting things up at four scores apiece.

With another productive fifth stanza ensuing, LMU surged ahead again on a Cochran bunt to bring Madison Henry home, followed by a Webb single up the middle, scoring Goins. With a two-run advantage near the end of the contest, the wheels then started to fall off for the Lady Railsplitters.

Pouring in five unanswered runs in the bottom of the sixth period, the Trojans put Lincoln Memorial in a huge hole, capped by a 3-RBI home run to make it 9-6. It wouldn't be the last time in the afternoon that Anderson would register such a game-changing play.

With their backs against the wall, the Lady Railsplitters were miraculously able to send the game to an eight frame thanks to a 3-0 burst in the seventh. Hucklebee launched a massive 2-RBI homer to score herself and Goins to get the rally started, and six batters later, following two outs with all three runners in scoring position, sophomore Tori Voiles drew a walk to tie things up once more at nine each.

As the next batter up, Goins couldn't manage the game-clinching run, thus signaling an extra inning. LMU's turn at bat to start the eighth proved largely uneventful, with not a single run or hit, paving the way for the Trojans to snap their 10-game winning streak moments later.

Thanks to an infield miscue with a runner already on third base, Anderson was able to reach the victory and in doing so, giving the Lady Railsplitters their first loss in nearly three weeks. Even though the team outgained the Trojans in total hits 11-8, freshman pitcher Emma Frost took the loss in the circle, pitching just over two innings before eventually seeing relief from both Faith Howe and Justice Smith.
 
Game 2 – Anderson def. No. 7 Lincoln Memorial 11-5
 
In part two of Wednesday's doubleheader, Anderson's offensive weaponry was even more powerful, with LMU left in the dust early on. The Trojans scored at least two runs in the game's first four innings to overpower the Lady Railsplitters' three scores each in the first three innings.

Goins would duplicate her start to the opener, sailing a centerfield homer past the park in the first at-bat of the contest. The tide quickly turned later that same period, with the Trojans bombing a home run of their own, which scored an additional runner already on base.

In the top of the second, Madison Henry zipped a left field single, which scored her sister McKenzie, although just as what occurred in the first frame, the Trojans kept outdoing the Lady Railsplitters at every turn.

Four consecutive scores in the bottom of the second put Anderson ahead 6-2, with the second 3-RBI home run serving as the dagger. LMU spent the rest of the day trying to play catchup, never able to reach a comeback similar to the first outing.

Hucklebee was quickly able to get one of those scores back thanks to a left center double by Webb, but for the third straight period, the Trojans answered with twice the bravado.
Another home run, this time scoring two, made it 8-3. Three more scores in the fourth frame piled on a 5-0 run to put Lincoln Memorial away.

The Lady Railsplitters made the final score more respectable in the fifth, on a Kelsie Tuggle single to bring home McKenzie Henry. Petoskey would notch the game's final run once Madison Henry reached on a third base error.

Sophomore Bailey Griffith saw her perfect pitching record come to an end in Game 2, giving up eight hits and eight more runs across a two & 1/3 inning performance. Smith took over for the second time in the day to finish out the game in relief.
 
Up Next
 
It won't be getting easier in the near future for LMU, who heads to the Peach State over the weekend for a three-game set against No. 9 North Georgia. The Lady Railsplitters will battle the Nighthawks at 1:00 and 3:00 on Saturday, before completing the trifecta on Sunday with a 12:00 opening pitch.

UNG heads into the much-anticipated series riding a 17-3 record, having split a doubleheader against Lee University Wednesday afternoon.
 
How to Follow
 
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms —@LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram — for more LMU softball coverage across the 2020 season.