MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – While on the road to Dahlonega for the 2021 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament as the #2 seed in the bracket, the Lincoln Memorial University softball team continued to haul in postseason accolades from a handful of their most impactful players, with four Lady Railsplitters named All-Southeast Region by the D-II Conference Commissioners Association, announced on Tuesday afternoon.

The same trio that was included in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's (NFCA) All-Southeast Region squad six days earlier would also land a spot in the D2CCA First Team unit 48 hours before the blue and gray's opening NCAA Tournament bout. Second baseman Ty-Kella Goins, starting pitcher Emma Frost, and designated player/catcher Audrey Petoskey highlighted the list of 14 all-region first teamers on Tuesday, while junior shortstop Sierra Hucklebee completed LMU's staggering tabulation with a second team induction for good measure.

Thanks to their billing of all-region First Team status, automatic eligibility into the D2CCA's All-America pool is granted to Goins, Frost, and Petoskey, to be announced deeper into the postseason as the Lady Railsplitters continue their pursuit of championship gold.

No stranger to individual accolades over the course of her illustrious five-year career in Harrogate, Goins earns a First Team membership from D2CCA for the third time overall throughout one of the most remarkable tenures in LMU softball history. Simply one of the most productive players at any position in the southeast region, Ty-Kella adds yet another plaque to her wide trophy case with an irreplaceable reputation left in her wake. An All-South Atlantic Conference recipient on four different occasions and the reigning SAC Player of the Year, Goins kept up the pace established from her previous three seasons donning the blue and gray, leading the roster this spring in runs scored (47), hits (55), and doubles (15), booming seven home runs to boot on 41 RBI. A .372 batting average beside a .982 fielding percentage in the infield has helped aid the Lady Railsplitters to a 36-6 record in 2021, calculating 76 putouts and 35 assists on the defensive end. Additionally, Ty-Kella has sprinted away with the Lincoln Memorial program record for most runs scored over a career with 199 and counting, landing 95 total bases this semester, another figure that stands as the highest on the team. A native of Ramseur, N.C., Goins currently ranks inside the top ten in school history in 13 separate categories, planting an indelible mark on the program's recent success with her third D2CCA First Team placement, one of only two players that can make that claim in the Southeast.

Cementing her status as one of the most menacing throwers in the country while only halfway into her collegiate career, Frost joins Goins as the only two Lady Railsplitters to be named First Team all-region in both the NFCA and D2CCA this spring. The 2021 South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Year from Morristown, Tenn., Emma has proved as formidable an ace as they come, producing a 2.23 ERA which holds as the lowest figure on the roster. With less than two full seasons under her hat as a true sophomore, Frost projects the image of a long-time veteran while in the circle evidenced by 151 total strikeouts in only 138.1 innings of work. A major catalyst for arguably the Lady Railsplitters' greatest regular season of all-time, the righty's personal record of 18-3 is unparalleled in the conference and nearly across the region, saving some of her best performances of the year for the final stretch of the schedule. A 12-K five-inning showing against Mars Hill on March 17^th insinuated a new LMU record for most strikeouts in a mercy-rule victory, tossing a perfect game in the process in one of 11 different instances that the sophomore has retired at least eight batters.

Sliding into a First Team role from D2CCA alongside Frost and Goins while splitting time as designated player and catcher, Petoskey rolls into the Southeast Regional bracket as one of the most powerful sluggers in the nation evidenced by the trail of RBI and homers flung by her hands this year. Just four HR's away from mirroring the program record for a single season, Audrey's 12 long-balls since February have helped the Lady Railsplitters climb upwards into the national rankings with seemingly each passing week. Saving her most dazzling season for her senior campaign, the Highland, Mich. product has amassed a team-best 46 RBI in 2021 next to 43 hits, nine doubles, and 88 total bases. Possessing the fourth-highest slugging percentage in the history of the program at .664 over the past four years (including a .733 SLG clip this season), Petoskey has been equally as tenacious on the defensive side of the field behind 89 putouts and zero errors to hit a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.

Completing the Lady Railsplitters' quartet of D2CCA award-winners on Tuesday, Hucklebee scoops up a Second Team nod thanks to one of the most efficient statistical rates on the entire team thus far. 52 hits, 44 runs scored, 12 doubles, 33 RBI, and a .369 BA all stand near the #1 spot on an LMU roster full of dynamic hitters, with Hucklebee holding an instrumental cog among a team that has been inside the NFCA top ten for nearly the entire year. 78 assists next to 53 putouts at the shortstop position has given Sierra a fielding percentage of .985 since the start of the schedule, backing up the potential set over the prior two years where the Knoxville, Tenn. native was heralded as the SAC Freshman of the Year while boosting her numbers ever since. Reeling home at least a pair of base runners on 11 different appearances in 2021, Hucklebee has assured the promise of her early days as a Lady Railsplitters was no fluke with an All-Southeast Region accolade to prove it.

Since the blue and gray were selected as the #2 seed in the region tournament at host institution North Georgia, the Lady Railsplitters are granted a BYE past the opening round on Wednesday, all set to compete in their first outing in nearly an entire month on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. against the winner of the Young Harris-Emmanuel matchup that will be held 24 hours prior. The six-team double-elimination bracket will culminate on Saturday afternoon in the Southeast Regional Championship set, with the winner receiving a bid to Denver, Colorado five days later to participate in the NCAA Division II Softball Championship as one of the final eight schools left standing.

Just under two days until the 25-day wait for the big dance finally ceases, the full list of D2CCA all-region honorees can be found below:
 
2021 D2CCA Softball All-Southeast Region First Team
C – Shelby Hammontree (North Georgia)
1B – Tatum Brummitt (UNC Pembroke)
2B – Ty-Kella Goins (Lincoln Memorial)
3B – Heaven Maness (Wingate)
SS – Margaret Simmons (North Georgia)
OF – Biz Walters (Young Harris)
OF – Caitlyn Canady (Columbus State)
OF – Natalie Corbin (Young Harris)
DP – Audrey Petoskey (Lincoln Memorial)
UT – Hannah Rose Corbin (Columbus State)
UT non P – Kylie Emanuele (Mount Olive)
P – Kylee Smith (North Georgia)
P – Emma Frost (Lincoln Memorial)
P – Hannah Hogue (Erskine)
 
2021 D2CCA Softball All-Southeast Region Second Team
C – Jill Torres (Young Harris)
1B – Kayson Boatner (Anderson)
2B – Cheyanne Mosteller (North Georgia)
3B – Hannah Towery (Newberry)
SS – Sierra Hucklebee (Lincoln Memorial)
OF – Kaylyn Anthony (North Georgia)
OF – Anna Alloway (Tusculum)
OF – Courtlynn Cooney (Mount Olive)
DP – Morgan Curley (Young Harris)
UT – Emily Sappington (Tusculum)
UT non P – Meagan Puckett (King)
P – Jill Dixon (Young Harris)
P – Harlie Duncan (Anderson)
P – Nikole Counts (King)
 
Pitcher of the Year: Kylee Smith (North Georgia)
 
Player of the Year: Margaret Simmons (North Georgia)
 
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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.