MARS HILL, N.C. – Closing the weekend with two straight victories, one in blowout fashion with the other on a come-from-behind rally, the No. 13 Lincoln Memorial University softball team trounced Mars Hill on the road in their second South Atlantic Conference series of 2020.

Doing most of the damage early on in Game 1 for a steady 10-1 decision to get the day underway, the Lady Railsplitters went deep for four home runs in the second half of the doubleheader, roaring back from a 4-0 deficit to score the final 11 runs of the contest for the decisive Sunday sweep.

With an important non-conference set at North Greenville pending on Monday afternoon, LMU showed no signs of rust in their first performance in seven days, grasping their first two wins in SAC territory of the year.
 
Game 1 – No. 13 Lincoln Memorial def. Mars Hill 10-1
 
By the time the Lady Railsplitters (14-5, 2-2 SAC) had their first three turns at bat in the opener, they had already given themselves a 6-0 advantage thanks to a trio of scores in the first and third innings. Mars Hill spent the rest of the game trying to play catch-up to no avail in the nine-run beat-down.

Junior first baseman Emma Webb wasted no time in putting LMU ahead, launching a 2-RBI right field single to score both Ty-Kella Goins and Grace Cochran in the first stanza. As the next batter up, sophomore catcher McKenzie Henry reeled Webb back to home with a single up the middle, giving the blue and gray a three-run cushion.

The next time Henry stepped up to the plate, in the top of the third, even more fortune went towards LMU in the form of a three-run homer to right center. Serving as the first long-ball of 2020 for the sophomore, Henry finished the afternoon with five RBI, all coming in the opener.

Mars Hill (2-10, 0-4 SAC) was able to muster their only score of the outing in the bottom of the fourth, paving the way for LMU to secure the game's final four runs. The first of these occurred in the top of the fifth, when pinch hitter Sami West drew a walk with the bases juiced to jolt the lead back up to six.

Lincoln Memorial's final three scores of the game, one in the sixth and two in the seventh, came via a sacrifice fly ball, with Henry, Cochran, and freshman Laken Phillips doing the honors to account for the 10-1 final margin of victory.

Senior Justice Smith threw her way to the W in the circle by pitching the entire Game 1, allowing only five runs, retiring the same number of batters. Cochran and Henry would be the only two players to manage more than one hit in the contest, but the team's six hits collectively were more than enough to get the job done.
 
Game 2 – No. 13 Lincoln Memorial def. Mars Hill 11-4
 
Turning what was a worrisome four-run hole into a seven-run shellacking in the opposite direction, the Lady Railsplitters capped off the weekend sweep by thrusting 11 consecutive runs in Game 2 in only four turns at bat.

Home runs were a key factor in the contest, with Mars Hill popping two of them in back-to-back innings, helping the Lions jump ahead 3-0. The lead quickly grew to four in the third frame, thanks to a right field RBI single.

Then the Lady Railsplitters erupted. Beginning the rally with a single score in the fourth, courtesy of an RBI single from sophomore infielder Tori Voiles, Lincoln Memorial evened the score at four apiece on a three-run flurry in the next period.

It was at this point that LMU began raining in homers at every turn, started by a two-run bomb from shortstop Sierra Hucklebee in the top of the fifth. Once Voiles reached on a fielder's choice to bring Savannah Daniel to home plate later in the inning, the Lady Railsplitter run train was just getting started with the score now at a stalemate.

LMU produced on of their most lopsided offensive outputs of a single inning in the sixth on Sunday, recording five more scores on two more home runs. Junior catcher Audrey Petoskey added to her team-high total of six long-balls on a 3-RBI homer to score Henry and Webb. Two batters later, with Madison Henry already on-base, Voiles sailed her first HR of the season to left field, catapulting the blue and gray in front 9-4.

Just for good measure, the Lady Railsplitters went deep once more in the final period, and for the second time in the game, it was Hucklebee the culprit. Bringing herself and Goins home to signify the 11-4 blowout, Hucklebee brings her home run total up to five on the year.

In total, Lincoln Memorial has registered 16 homers in 17 games, with 11 of them coming from either Petoskey or Hucklebee. After coming alive midway through Game 2 for a hit total of 12, LMU finished the weekend having outscored the Lions 21-5, while winning their third straight outing. Exactly one week ago, the Lady Railsplitters came out on top in a pitching duel over then-#9 North Georgia on the road, 1-0.

Faith Howe would secure the W at the pitching spot for LMU in just over two innings of work. Freshman Emma Frost would throw the final five innings of relief, only giving up two hits in the one-sided triumph.

All 11 of the team's RBI in the Game 2 win came from either Voiles, Hucklebee, or Petoskey. The four RBI from Voiles is a season-high for 2020, while the Lady Railsplitters gathered 18 hits overall in the Sunday two-parter.
 
Up Next
 
It will be a quick turnaround for LMU to start the new week, with a Monday road trip to North Greenville on deck in Tigerville, South Carolina. The non-conference doubleheader was originally scheduled for February 12^th, but was held back nearly four weeks on account of inclement weather at the time.

The Crusaders have hit a brick wall over the past few weeks, with once a record of 9-1 derailing into a 10-10 mark thanks to a six-game losing streak. NGU has come up on the short end of nine of their last 10 outings, most recently dropping a pair of games at home to SAC representative Coker, 9-2 and 3-1.

In the 2019 campaign, the Lady Railsplitters produced a Harrogate sweep over North Greenville, besting the Crusaders 3-1 and 4-3 in a nine-inning affair, part of what was eventually a 12-game winning streak.

First pitch in Game 1 from Tigerville is set for 2:00 p.m., with a 4:00 start time in Game 2 immediately following.
 
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.