YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – As both games of Tuesday afternoon's gargantuan non-conference affair came to an end, the final results read in total opposite directions for the Lincoln Memorial University softball team in the Peach State, as the Lady Railsplitters used a fast start in the opener to grab a huge road victory over #13 Young Harris before taking a lopsided loss in the nightcap.

Fourth-ranked LMU (25-4, 13-3 SAC) was able to ride a 5-0 advantage all the way to the finish line in a 6-4 win to get the day started, led by a 3-4 showing at the plate from senior first baseman Emma Webb on two RBI. The Mountain Lions answered with vicious intent after taking the tight L, run-ruling the Lady Railsplitters for the first time in 2021 on a 13-4 decision thanks to 12 hits in only five innings.

Overall, YHC secured 12 of their 17 scores via the home run ball, going the distance four times, including a trio of homers in the second half of Tuesday's DH to end the day with both sides taking one win apiece.
 
Game 1 – No. 4 Lincoln Memorial def. No. 13 Young Harris 6-4
 
Determined to erase the memory of the previous weekend's pair of setbacks against Coker that snapped a 12-game winning streak, Head Coach Ritchie Richardson's squad raced out of the gates against YHC to win by the exact same score as their Game 2 loss to the Cobras 72 hours earlier. A four-run 2^nd frame sandwiched in between two more scores six innings apart proved to be just enough for the blue and gray to hold on in the first meeting between the two schools since the 2019 NCAA Division II Southeast Super Regionals in Harrogate.

LMU made the most of their opportunities at-bat in the early going, able to grab the W despite being out-hit overall by a 9-7 clip. As the opening three batters all occupied one base due to a pair of Mountain Lion fielding errors and a right field single, Webb landed an RBI shot to left center to bring Ty-Kella Goins to home plate for the 1-0 lead.

Young Harris (20-5, 8-0 PBC) quickly unraveled in the next period, as the Lady Railsplitters forced an early exit from starting pitcher Sam Davis with a four-run flurry.

Again aided by a YHC mishap in the outfield via a dropped fly ball, third baseman Grace Cochran was able to sprint to home base to push the lead to a deuce. Webb stepped back up to the plate as the next batter, promptly firing a two-RBI double for her second hit in as many innings to increase the deficit to 4-0.

Not one to lie down easily despite the large hole, the 13^th-ranked Mountain Lions punched back in the bottom of the 3^rd on a three-run bomb from Carly Rigsbee, one of two on the day for the second baseman and four overall for YHC in the split.

Lady Railsplitter ace Emma Frost wouldn't let that big shot spiral into any more damage, managing to finish out the rest of the contest by giving up just one additional run in the bottom of the 6^th, on an RBI-double from Natalie Corbin.

As their four-run differential was whittled down to just one, Cochran provided LMU with a bit of breathing room in the final lap on a sacrifice fly ball to bring pinch runner Kelsie Tuggle from third base to home. Young Harris would leave two runners stranded in their final chance to account for the two-run final in a major bounce back performance from the blue and gray.

Behind Webb's effective day at-bat, junior catcher McKenzie Henry helped the Lady Railsplitters' hitting totals with a 2-3 showing herself. As Davis took the loss in the circle after being yanked in the 2^nd period, Frost improved to 11-2 on the sophomore's personal record.
 
Game 2 – No. 13 Young Harris def. No. 4 Lincoln Memorial 13-4 (5 Innings)
 
Things took a drastic turn for the worse from the moment Game 2 got underway on Tuesday, as the Lady Railsplitters took a mercy-rule defeat for the first time in 2021, falling for the third time in their last four appearances by a nine-run margin in a bout that seemingly got out of hand before the defense knew what hit them.

On a mission to achieve the split in the battle between two nationally-ranked programs, the Mountain Lions bulleted out to a 10-0 lead after just three innings. While LMU was able to see some daylight on a three-run HR from Goins to open the 5^th, YHC immediately countered with three of their own runs to prematurely end the finale with the last laugh.

In total, seven different Young Harris performers successfully recorded a hit, including a combined nine blasts from Rigsbee, Corbin, Ashley Autuori, and Haylie Shope as they outshone LMU in the hits department by a whopping 12-4 difference.

Shope wasted no time in putting the Mountain Lions on the board with a home run right down the middle of the field to score thrice in the first frame. A fielder's choice scenario brought Corbin home later in the 2^nd, before another three-run HR sailed over the Lady Railsplitters' heads, this one coming from Autuori. All of a sudden, LMU found themselves in a 7-0 hole.

After eight more batters in the 3^rd, that already-commanding lead ballooned to double digits on a sac fly and an Autuori RBI-single, spliced in with a bases-loaded walk.

An error from YHC starting pitcher Jill Dixon paved the way for the Lady Railsplitters' first score of the contest in the top of the 4^th, on what was otherwise a stellar outing in the circle. Holding the blue and gray to a season-low in total hits by letting only four slide through, Dixon fanned seven batters out of 20 faced to help the Mountain Lions cruise to the blowout win.

It appeared at first as though LMU would avoid a mercy-rule defeat once Goins went yard to score Tuggle and Kelsey Hoskins, although Young Harris' fourth long-ball of the day came later in the bottom of the 5^th from Rigsbee. All four of YHC's homers scored three players to aid the Mountain Lions in the nine-run W.

Junior Bailey Griffith was saddled with the loss after 1.2 innings of work, where she would be relieved by Hayley Tamaro the rest of the way.
 
Up Next
 
Eager to return to Dorothy Neely Field, where they have amassed a perfect 13-0 record in 2021, the Lady Railsplitters get back to South Atlantic Conference business on Friday afternoon in Harrogate, welcoming Lenoir-Rhyne for a league doubleheader at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.

The Bears, who were the only SAC squad predicted to finish ahead of LMU in the preseason coaches' poll, sit just one game back of the blue and gray for the top spot in the conference standings at 16-10 overall along with a 12-6 record against league opponents. L-R would also face their difficulties in non-conference play on Tuesday, falling victim to a sweep at the hands of Belmont Abbey by a combined margin of 11-4.

In what has been a miserable series for the majority of its history against the Bears, LMU has been able to make some progress in its more recent outings against Lenoir-Rhyne, winning the past three meetings to help change the narrative in the series where they had previously lost the last nine. The Lady Railsplitters have not been bested on their own field in nearly 14 months.
 
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.