HARROGATE, Tenn. – Neither the Panthers of Ohio Dominican nor the Panthers of Davenport could slow down the 20^th-ranked Lincoln Memorial University softball team on Saturday afternoon at Dorothy Neely Field, as the Lady Railsplitters cruised over both opponents to stay unbeaten at 5-0.

Snatching their 10^th and 11^th straight wins at Dorothy Neely Field, LMU outpaced the Panthers by 15 runs in total off the strength of 16 combined hits, downing ODU (0-2) 7-0 before turning around to make quick work of Davenport (1-1), 10-2 in a six-inning mercy-rule decision.
 
Game 1 – No. 20 Lincoln Memorial def. Ohio Dominican 7-0
 
It took some time for the Lady Railsplitter offense to gain some traction against a stout Ohio Dominican front, but the tide of the game quickly turned in the bottom of the 6^th inning by virtue of a 6-0 burst to put the Panthers away. Sophomore Emma Frost grabbed her second win of the year in the circle by fanning eight out of 22 batters faced, throwing all seven innings to only surrender three hits.

Five different players for LMU recorded at least one hit in the victory, led by a 2-3 showing at the plate by graduate second baseman Ty-Kella Goins and junior catcher McKenzie Henry, the latter of which added a pair of RBI in the shutout.

Henry quickly put the Lady Railsplitters on the board in the opening frame, launching a left field single to bring Sierra Hucklebee home for the 1-0 lead. After four innings of offensive silence for both teams, LMU erupted in the 6^th for what would eventually lead to the seven-run triumph.

Ohio Dominican was held without a hit in four different innings on Saturday, including the final two stanzas after falling behind 7-0. Just as she opened the scoring with an RBI single five innings back, Henry handed LMU their next run with the exact same play down the middle of the field, scoring Hucklebee once more.

Designated player Audrey Petoskey mirrored Henry as the next batter with another RBI single to hoist the lead up to three, before junior third baseman Kelsie Tuggle reached first on a Panther throwing error, scoring Victoria Mounce for the team's fourth run.

An RBI ground out from senior centerfielder Bella Buccellato paved the way for Goins to polish off the Lady Railsplitters' scoring for Game 1 on a double to left field, bringing Tuggle back home. Later that same inning, first baseman Emma Webb drew a walk with bases loaded to balloon the lead up to 7-0.

Only two ODU performers managed at least one hit, they being Alexis Stevens and Gracie Jo Thompson, the former of which landed a pair. Sydney Long took the loss in the circle in the Panthers' second outing of 2021, striking out five while also surrendering the same number of hits and runs.
 
Game 2 – No. 20 Lincoln Memorial def. Davenport 10-2 (6 innings)
 
Batting sixth in the lineup over the course of the eight-run victory over Davenport, Petoskey exploded for one of the senior's best performances in the blue and gray. Going 3-4 at bat next to a career-high tying six RBI that opened with a three-run homer, the Highland, Mich. native remained a thorn in the Panthers' side all game long.

Leading from start to finish once again, LMU wasted no time in jumping out to a big lead in the early going. A Webb single past second base aided the Lady Railsplitters to their fifth consecutive time scoring in the opening frame. By the time Petoskey crushed the three-run homer two at-bats later, the score suddenly read 4-0 in favor of the blue and gray.

The only scare given to the Lady Railsplitters by the Panthers occurred in the top of the 3^rd, courtesy of a two-RBI centerfield single by Lindsay Goodman to cut the lead in half. The two runs would stay as the only blemish on pitcher Bailey Griffith's afternoon, as the junior emulated Frost earlier in the day by throwing the entire contest while also moving to 2-0 personally, striking out seven.

LMU wasn't phased by Davenport's mini-run, countering in the bottom of the 3^rd with Petoskey's fourth RBI of the game that zoomed right past reliever Elise Magnus. Starting pitcher Emma Miller was saddled with the loss, allowing six of the Lady Railsplitters' nine hits. Both Magnus and Miller surrendered five runs apiece.

Keeping the ball rolling in the bottom of the 4^th, Hucklebee scored both Goins and senior rightfielder Grace Cochran with a double to right field, extending the advantage to 7-2. Webb became the third LMU player to notch at least two RBI at the very next at-bat, singling through the right side to bring Hucklebee around the diamond.

Petoskey ended the contest early with a two-RBI swing to right field, securing the team's second mercy-rule win of the 2021 campaign. Webb and Hucklebee synced up for five hits in six trips to the plate put together, completing the Saturday sweep.
 
Up Next
 
Winners of their last 10 games dating back to March 2020, the Lady Railsplitters head right back to Dorothy Neely Field on Sunday afternoon to meet both Ohio Dominican and Davenport one final time each to wrap up the second day of the three-team non-conference invitational.

Putting their 11-game Harrogate winning streak on the line, the first pitch with Davenport is scheduled for a 12:00 noon start time, followed by the rematch with Ohio Dominican at 2:00 p.m.
 
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 2021 season.