HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University softball program (33-18, 15-9 SAC) played host to this year's South Atlantic Conference Championship Tournament, welcoming seven other SAC schools to the Dorothy Neely Softball Complex Friday. The Lady Railsplitters knocked off Queens in thrilling fashion, advancing to Saturday's league semifinal vs. Anderson.  
 
Over the last two months, Lincoln Memorial has experienced the extreme ends of the spectrum, first winning 13-in-a-row, then dropping 11-straight, both single-season records in the Ritchie Richardson era. The Blue & Grey remained positive and brought in a strong 21-5 home record, which turned the tide in favor of LMU Friday afternoon as they held off a resilient Royals group that fought until the very end.


Quarterfinal 1 – No. 4-Seed Lincoln Memorial Defeat No. 5-Seed Queens 7-6.    
  
There was cause for concern the loss-streak would continue as the Royals were the first to strike out of the gates in the game's second, but, as LMU has done so many times this season in Dorothy Neely, the Blue & Grey had an immediate response in the bottom-half of the inning. A Kelsey Hoskins bloop-single pushed across graduate, Emma Webb, and advanced both Kelsie and Katie Tuggle to jam the bases. In the ensuing at-bat, freshman Shelby Blake drew a decisive walk, brining Lincoln Memorial into the lead.
 
Just the following inning, Third Team All-SAC member and catcher McKenzie Henry hit a towering blast to left for a two-run shot. A bomb in which may have been the longest home run hit in 2022 at Dorothy Neely, everyone in attendance had no doubt that ball was long-gone the second it left Henry's bat.  
 
As the day's first quarterfinal moved to the fourth frame, Queens drew a run back, but immediately responded to shoot themselves in the foot in the bottom-half of the inning. Two defensive errors out of the gate set up Emma Webb, who grounded out, scoring Madison Henry. The following at-bat, Queen's Dunn delivered a wild pitch scoring yet another Lady Railsplitter, putting LMU four-to-the-good.
 
Graduate Emma Webb recorded her career-RBI No. 157, which is just four-shy of the program-record.
 
Emma Frost returned to the circle in the top-of-the-seventh to close out Queens after a solid day of work and advance LMU to the semifinal, but the ace quickly ran into trouble. The Royals scored three to pull within one, when Nelson of Queens came to the plate. An entertaining and memorable at-bat saw Nelson sprint down the first base line after just the third ball called, as the Royal thought she had drawn the walk just a bit early. Still with two on down 7-6, Nelson came back to the plate and crushed a drive to center field. As Dorothy Neely fell silent to see if the ball would leave the park, it was the Lady Railsplitters who burst into joy, as graduate Bella Buccellato caught the final out up against the fence to advance the Blue & Grey to tomorrow's semifinals.
 
Emma Frost earned her 19th win on the season, striking out seven in the complete game victory.
 
Saturday's second semifinal at 1:30 p.m. EST will see two-seed Lenoir-Rhyne take on six-seed Carson-Newman. The victors of the first two matchups will face off in the South Atlantic Conference Championship Tournament game at 4:30 p.m. EST inside Dorothy Neely.
 
UP NEXT…
The Lady Railsplitters will compete for the 2022 South Atlantic Conference Championship inside the Dorothy Neely Softball Complex, taking on the Trojans of Anderson in a conference semifinal this Saturday, April 30. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. EST. 
 
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms —@LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram — for complete coverage of Lady Railsplitter softball through the 2022 season.