HARROGATE, Tenn. – Sweeping in-state foe King for the second time in seven weeks on Tuesday afternoon at Dorothy Neely Field, the 8^th-ranked Lincoln Memorial University softball squad conjured its second and third consecutive wins by a margin of a single run, kicking off a season-closing stretch of six games in five days with their 12^th sweep of the spring.

Riding a 4-5 effort from behind the plate by second baseman Ty-Kella Goins and catcher Audrey Petoskey, the Lady Railsplitters (31-4, 17-3 SAC) survived a trio of Tornado scores in the top of the 6^th inning during the opener, staying perfect at home with a 4-3 triumph. That unblemished Dorothy Neely Field record extended to 17-0 in the second half of Tuesday's DH once senior rightfielder Grace Cochran soared a walk-off single in the bottom of the 7^th as two outs had already been tallied to reach a 3-2 decision.

Ballooning their NCAA Division II-leading win total to 31 while extending the nation's longest home winning streak to 25 games, LMU has now knocked off King four times in 2021 by a combined margin of just five runs. Head Coach Ritchie Richardson's club has emerged as the winner in 36 out of their last 40 appearances dating back to March 2020.
 
Game 1 – No. 8 Lincoln Memorial def. King 4-3
 
The Lady Railsplitters and reigning two-time AstroTurf South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Week Emma Frost looked to be in total control as Tuesday's Game 1 began to inch closer to the finish line, having already scored two runs apiece in the 3^rd and 5^th periods while holding the Tornado without a single run.

King nearly put a dent in LMU's flawless Harrogate record in the top of the 6^th, however, by virtue of three unanswered runs to trim the deficit down to just one. Lincoln Memorial recuperated from that point and clung to the victory, it's second in a row over the Tornado by the smallest margin possible.

Goins and shortstop Sierra Hucklebee produced a pair of RBI in the bottom of the 3^rd to scratch, the former on a rightfield double that brought home Bella Buccellato while the latter scored Goins on an infield ground out.

Hucklebee planted her second RBI of the afternoon in a more decisive manner two innings later, again bringing LMU all-time runs leader Goins around the bases on a single past the right side. By the time McKenzie Henry swung her own RBI single down the opposite side of the field three batters later, the Lady Railsplitters had gathered their largest lead of the day over a gritty King unit at 4-0.

The comfortable feeling vanished in a blink for LMU once the top of the 6^th rolled around, as King finally managed to make some noise against the vaunted blue and gray defense. Tinsley Thompson and Peyton Day brought the Tornado back from purgatory with back-to-back base hits that scored a trio of runners, suddenly clawing the visitors back within one run.

King came inches away from potentially tying the game on the final swing of the inning, although Day's sprint from first base to home after an Azlee Sells single ended up going in the Lady Railsplitters' favor, as Hucklebee flung a bullet throw to Petoskey to tag the runner out at the last possible moment to maintain the one-run cushion.

The Tornado couldn't build any more momentum over their final turn at bat after falling a run shy, allowing Frost to snatch her 14^th personal victory, striking out eight players to bring her total to 28 over the past six days. King ace Nikole Counts took the loss in the circle after five innings of work, falling to 11-5.
 
Game 2 – No. 8 Lincoln Memorial def. King 3-2
 
Needing another clutch finish, although this time from the batting instead of the D, the Lady Railsplitters got exactly what they were hoping for once Cochran brought Buccellato around the diamond in the bottom of the 7^th to shatter a 2-2 tie and give the blue and gray their first walk-off victory of the spring in their 31^st win overall.

Recording seven hits from seven different players to collect their ninth one-run W of the semester and third such victory in a row, no three swings ended up turning a bigger tide throughout Game 2 more so than Goins' 3^rd-inning solo home run, Kelsie Tuggle's 4^th-inning RBI ground-rule double, and Cochran's game-clinching single to end the day.

After a shaky start for both teams during the early going, LMU welcomed a shot in the arm from Goins in the bottom of the 3^rd, as the fifth-year standout drilled her 25^th collegiate homer and her seventh long-ball of the season, the most for the graduate in a single year since her freshman campaign.

The Tornado bounced back in a hurry after that opening score, however. Signifying her only hit of the afternoon in six at-bats, Rikkelle Miller played a bit of copycat by sinking a two-run HR that also scored first baseman-turned pitcher Carly Turner in the top of the 4^th. King wouldn't be able to enjoy the slim lead for long, as LMU pounded another haymaker right back their way.

With Hucklebee already manning second base in the next frame, Tuggle delivered her third double of the spring that took one hop over the outfield wall, sending the game into a 2-2 tie that could have easily given the Lady Railsplitters the advantage had the ball stayed in play.

Both clubs fell silent in terms of putting runs on the board from that point, that is until Cochran's fireworks in the bottom of the 7^th. Before the rightfielder gave LMU the 3-2 win in the closing moments though, her leftfield mate Kelsey Hoskins provided arguably the game-saving grab in the top of the 6^th.

First and third base both featured an occupant for the Tornado with only one out remaining until the Lady Railsplitters could escape the inning. Meagan Puckett hammered a deep ball to left field that had the potential to land a pair of runs, although Hoskins dove forward just in the nick of time to keep the contest knotted up at two apiece.

One of the speedier base-runners on the roster, Buccellato was able to jolt to second in the final stanza on a double to left center to put the blue and gray in prime position to seize their first walk-off of the year. Cochran emancipated LMU from what was leaning towards their first extra-inning bout of 2021 on the game-winning single, the team's sixth victory in a row and 25^th straight at Dorothy Neely Field.

Going the distance in the circle to move to 10-2 individually, junior Bailey Griffith would surrender only five King hits in the win, aiding the Lady Railsplitters to their sixth consecutive W over their in-state non-conference opponent. Pulling double duty at the pitching spot for the visitors, Carly Turner threw all seven innings in defeat, facing 29 batters throughout the Game 2 thriller while also batting.
 
Up Next
 
Moving right along through their regular season-closing six-game home stand before the South Atlantic Conference Tournament next weekend, LMU prepares to battle Lenoir-Rhyne in Harrogate this Thursday, just 48 hours after vanquishing King for the fourth time this year. The league doubleheader will serve as a redo of the original meeting that was planned for April 2^nd, as the Bears have been on a COVID-19-related pause since their last series on March 30^th which was a pair of 7-3 and 4-1 losses at the hands of Belmont Abbey in Hickory.

As the only team picked above the Lady Railsplitters in the preseason SAC projections, Lenoir-Rhyne currently sits in 3^rd place in the latest conference standings at 12-6 against league opponents next to an overall record of 16-10. LMU holds a lead of at least three games over every other school in the league with just four games left on the schedule, as Coach Richardson's club aims for its second conference regular season championship in school history.

Despite a largely one-sided series history in the Bears' favor, the blue and gray have had L-R's number so to speak over the last three outings, most recently sweeping Lenoir-Rhyne in the 2019 regular season on the road before then beating them a third time that year in the SAC Tournament Quarterfinals by a 5-1 clip.

Game-times from Dorothy Neely Field on Thursday are scheduled for 2:00 and 4:00 p.m., where LMU hasn't tasted defeat in over 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.