ROCK HILL, S.C. – Having already clinched their second-ever South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Championship four days before the conclusion of the 2021 schedule, the #1 seed Lincoln Memorial University Softball squad now knows their opponent for Friday afternoon's SAC Tournament Round of 8 matchup in Greeneville, Tenn., and it's a familiar one.

Holding onto the #8 seed by one single game in the final league standings, the Cavaliers of UVA Wise will meet the 7^th-ranked Lady Railsplitters (34-5, 20-4) in the quarterfinals at Tusculum University, who serves as the host institution for the 2021 postseason. LMU has already faced off with the Cavs in two separate doubleheaders this spring, gaining a sweep on both occasions in Harrogate.

As the first two of what eventually became 20 conference victories to give the Lady Railsplitters their second top seed since joining the SAC (all within the past three years), fourth-year Head Coach Ritchie Richardson's unit got the better of UVA Wise in their first series of the semester by scores of 10-2 and 3-0 on February 23^rd at Dorothy Neely Field. Exactly two weeks later, LMU repeated that same feat, downing the Cavaliers twice more by final decisions of 8-3 and 7-4, extending their winning streak over Wise to an impressive eight games awaiting their fifth joust of the season with the Cavs in Friday's postseason affair.

An eight-team single-elimination format starting and finishing within a 48-hour window, the SAC Tournament was last held in 2019 due to last season's abrupt cancellation following the COVID-19 global outbreak. Off the heels of their first ever league regular season crown two years back, LMU was sent packing earlier than expected in the semi's at the hands of Anderson, before eventually bouncing back in a major way, advancing all the way to the NCAA Division II Southeast Super Regionals for the first time in program history.

Speaking of the Trojans, Anderson finished the 2021 calendar locked into the #2 seed across this weekend's bracket at four wins back of the Lady Railsplitters. The Catawba Indians, who are responsible for one of LMU's four SAC losses and the blue and gray's first defeat of the season after a 12-0 start, enter the postseason as the conference's # 3 seed, while Carson-Newman and Wingate ended in a tie for 4^th place. The Bulldogs ultimately earned the tiebreaker in that scenario by virtue of their surprising 9-0 Game 2 win over LMU in last Saturday's regular season finale, putting an end to what was a 28-game home winning streak for Coach Richardson's group that stood as the longest in the nation.

Similarly to Wingate and Carson-Newman's equal record down the halfway portion of the bracket, Tusculum and Lenoir-Rhyne stand deadlocked for the #6 spot, where the hosting Pioneers took the tiebreaker. Preseason conference favorite L-R scratches the 7^th-seed for Friday's opening round upon an underwhelming league record, leaving room for UVA Wise to take the 8^th-place slot and meet up with LMU once again.

Beginning their quest for a conference tournament championship (something the program hasn't yet achieved since joining the SAC), the Lady Railsplitters' Friday matinee with the Cavaliers will see its first pitch as approximately 1:30 p.m. as the second matchup of the day. Should LMU move on to the round of four on Saturday, they will face the winner of the 4-vs.-5 bout between Carson-Newman and Wingate in the semifinals, before the championship battle takes place later that same afternoon at 5:00.

Friday will be LMU's second trip to Greeneville this spring, as the Lady Railsplitters visited Tusculum back on March 10^th, promptly sweeping the Pioneers by vastly different final scores of 14-7 and 4-3. The Lady Railsplitters' 34 total wins stand as the most of any team in all of NCAA Division II approaching the postseason, just four away from matching the highest number of wins in a single season in the history of the program.

At the conclusion of this weekend's South Atlantic Conference Tournament, LMU will be forced to wait nearly an entire month for the Southeast Regionals, which will begin on May 19^th to accommodate other conferences that have not yet finished their respective seasons. However, the Lady Railsplitters turn their attention to a pursuit of a league tournament title in the meantime, gearing up for their first postseason contest in two years.

A link pertaining to attendance policies for outside spectators can be found at the top of this article. Below is the full schedule for this weekend's festivities, including game times for each bout:
 
Friday, April 23 (at Greeneville, Tenn.)
Game 1 - #4 Wingate vs. #5 Carson-Newman, 11:00 a.m.
Game 2 - #1 Lincoln Memorial vs. #8 UVA Wise, 1:30 p.m.
Game 3 - #2 Anderson vs. #7 Lenoir-Rhyne, 4:00 p.m.
Game 4 - #3 Catawba vs. #6 Tusculum, 6:30 p.m.
 
Saturday, April 24 (at Greeneville, Tenn.)
Game 5 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 12:00 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner, 2:30 p.m.
Game 7 – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 5:00 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.