HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Unable to catch a break in Saturday afternoon's South Atlantic Conference doubleheader against the Coker Cobras on the road, the Lincoln Memorial University softball team couldn't translate 19 total hits into a win in either contest, falling victim to a sweep for their second and third losses of the 2021 season.

The fourth-ranked Lady Railsplitters (24-3, 13-3 SAC) abruptly saw their six-game road winning streak come to a close in Hartsville, dropping a 4-3 decision in the opener after a late 7^th-inning rally fell just short of completion. A 6-4 defeat in the second half of the weekend DH sends LMU limping into their showdown against #13 Young Harris 72 hours from Saturday, as Head Coach Ritchie Richardson's unit left 10 batters on-base in each game against the Cobras to snap their 12-game winning streak overall.
 
Game 1 – Coker def. No. 4 Lincoln Memorial 4-3
 
Taking a while to get out of the box in Saturday's opening act, the Lady Railsplitters surrendered their first run in the past 39 innings in the bottom of the 3^rd period and were forced to play catch-up from that point. A 3-1 deficit with only three outs left in the tank proved just large enough for the Cobras (11-11, 6-8 SAC) to cash in on one of the biggest upsets in the league by a one-run clip.

Three different Coker performers notched two hits in the win, as Bailey Douglas, Ava Jay, and Chloe Pelham accounted for 66% of the Cobras' offense. Pelham was able to break the ice in the 3^rd on a sacrifice fly ball to score Jessica McWhorter, marking the first time LMU had trailed an opponent in seven games after six straight sweeps beforehand.

Junior shortstop Sierra Hucklebee, who went 4-7 on the day, mirrored Coker in the top of the 5^th on a sac fly ball to bring lead-off batter Ty-Kella Goins to home plate, tying things up at one. LMU's 12-game winning streak quickly fell in jeopardy in the next inning, however, thanks to a Douglas two-run homer, one of two long-balls given up by the blue and gray over the weekend.

With their backs firmly against the wall in the top of the 7^th frame, the Lady Railsplitters finally punched back with an Audrey Petoskey RBI-single to score Hucklebee and another hit of similar variety from McKenzie Henry that brought Emma Webb around the diamond. Unfortunately, LMU left two runners stranded with a centerfield fly-out in the final at-bat, coming just a hair shy of following through on the comeback.

Throwing the entire outing on seven strikeouts in 28 batters faced, sophomore Emma Frost was saddled with the loss in the circle, dropping her overall record to 10-2. Breaking the 100-pitch threshold to take the win in the opposite side, Isabelle Mullen was relieved by Hannah Fisher after five innings of work, where the sophomore just barely pulled out the save.

Altogether, LMU left 10 would-be scorers on base, a statistic they would duplicate in the two-run Game 2 defeat that occurred shortly thereafter.
 
Game 2 – Coker def. No. 4 Lincoln Memorial 6-4
 
The offense picked up dramatically for the Lady Railsplitters in the nightcap as they attempted to erase the memory of the previous result. However, another early hole plagued LMU after three innings of play, where they would once again come up on the short end of the stick.

Allowing four runs in the same inning for the first time in 11 appearances, the blue and gray were again left scrambling after a four-score 3^rd stanza for the Cobras. Three consecutive RBI singles from McWhorter, Kelsi Scott, and Pelham signaled another uphill battle for the Lady Railsplitters and junior pitcher Bailey Griffith.

Things started off swimmingly for the blue and gray in the top of the next inning once Hucklebee slammed in her second home run of the season as the lead-off hitter to cut within three. However, the Lady Railsplitters couldn't capitalize on a bases-loaded scenario with only one out, with a fielder's choice and fly ball ending the inning still with food on the table.

Going from bad to worse in the bottom of the 4^th thanks to a Mikayla Goodwin solo HR and Scott RBI single past the infield unit to push the lead to 6-1, LMU emptied their bullpen by throwing both Haley Tamaro and Victoria Conley to finish out the game. In the end, Griffith took her first loss of the season as the starter, ending her personal eight-game winning streak to open up the year.

Sophomore outfielder Madison Henry was able to answer in the top of the 5^th, reaching home after a Coker fielding error in a fielder's choice gamble. The same problem that LMU had been dealing with all afternoon arose once more, as a groundout to the shortstop prevented the Lady Railsplitters from dishing out more damage with two runners left stranded.

On what was otherwise a frustrating day for the blue and gray, Hucklebee's two-RBI single up the middle in the 6^th period helped put Goins firmly into the first-place spot in the program's all-time runs scored list. Along with Sami West, who also scored on the play, Goins tallied her 183^rd career run to move one past the previous category leader Brittney Walker, who donned the LMU jersey from 2004-2007.

The Lady Railsplitters had more pressing matters to attend to, however, thanks to the now two-run deficit. A strikeout in the next trip to the plate after Hucklebee's single relegated LMU to a second straight inning with two runners stranded.

Petoskey gave the blue and gray their last shot at a rally with a double to left center as the lead-off batter in the 7^th frame, the senior's fifth hit of the afternoon. LMU was unable to do anything with that promising start once again, falling prey to three straight outs from there and an unlikely sweep at the hands of the Cobras.

Jordyn Goodman took the W at the pitcher's spot in Game 2, throwing the first five innings before retiring from there. Mullen grabbed the save as the Lady Railsplitters' comeback try fell short of fruition for the second straight time.

Luckily for Coach Richardson's group, the Saturday sweep didn't harm LMU to a great degree in the updated South Atlantic Conference standings, still leading all other teams in the league by at least two games with a SAC record of 13-3. Both Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne still lurk closely behind with 11 conference wins each, still awaiting their turn to face the Lady Railsplitters at the turn of the month of April.
 
Up Next
 
Turning their attention to one of the most important meetings of 2021 on Tuesday, the Lady Railsplitters will hope to bounce back in a major way by staying on the road for the third straight time to battle 13^th-ranked Young Harris in Georgia.

Tuesday's DH with the Mountain Lions will serve as the first meeting between the two schools since the 2019 NCAA Division II Southeast Super Regionals in Harrogate, where YHC posted consecutive 1-0 and 12-6 triumphs over LMU to end the Lady Railsplitters' season in a best-two-out-of-three set. Both clubs were scheduled to play again last spring, but were forced to wait an extra year due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The monster non-conference affair was originally slated for February 17^th when Young Harris stood as the #6 team in the nation, although the series was pushed back six weeks due to inclement weather at the time.

First pitch from Game 1 in the Peach State will take place at 1:00 p.m., before an approximate 3:00 start time for the closer in the rematch from the NCAA Tournament 23 months earlier.
 
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.