ANDERSON, S.C. – The Lincoln Memorial University softball program (36-18, 15-9 SAC) defeated the No. 4-seed King University in the first round of the 2022 NCAA DII Southeast Regional Thursday afternoon, topping the Tornado 5-3 in the Palmetto State.
 
Fresh off the momentum of the first SAC tournament crown, the Lady Railsplitters wasted no time in striking first blood, with a seismic first inning against Tornado ace, Nikole Counts.
 
First Team All-SAC outfielder Madison Henry walked to start the ball game, and two at-bats later senior Sierra Hucklebee belted a drive deep off the right field fence, scoring Henry for the game's opening run. Hucklebee recorded just her second triple of the season.
 
On the ensuing at-bat, sitting on a career-RBI total of 159, graduate Emma Webb stepped to the plate for the Lady Railsplitters. In need of just three RBI to break the program-record mark of 161, Webb bombed her third homer of the season far over the right field wall to put LMU three-to-the-good. Webb will have at least two more contests this season in need of just one RBI to break the program-record.
 
LMU added one farther run in the fourth, as third baseman Kelsie Tuggle boarded base with a single and eventually advanced herself all the way to third. A Shelby Blake grounder to short that resulted in an error scored Tuggle.
 
King's bats finally woke up and took junior Emma Frost off her thundering pace, plating three in the bottom-half of the fourth to make it a two-run ball game.
 
Shaking off the Tornado comeback, Frost responded and killed any momentum or signs of comeback from King, closing out the final three innings scoreless for the junior ace's 24th complete-game of the season. Frost moves on to 22-8 this spring, adding five more strikeouts to her season total.
 
On the other half of the Southeast Regional sub-bracket, No. 1-seed and host Anderson throttled No. 8-seed Francis Marion University, 8-0, setting the rematch in tomorrow's winners bracket vs. Lincoln Memorial. The Lady Railsplitters dropped a tightly-contested series at Anderson last month near the end of the regular season, but responded brilliantly to knock off the SAC regular season champions in dramatic fashion in the conference tournament.
 
Emma Frost will again be tomorrow's projected starter at 10 a.m. EST, facing off against Anderson's probable in Laken Maxwell, the reigning pitcher of the year in the SAC.
 
Friday, May 13
Game 3 10:00 AM No. 1-seed Anderson vs. No. 5-seed Lincoln Memorial
Game 4 12:30 PM No. 4-seed King vs. No. 8-seed Francis Marion University
Game 5 3:00 PM Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4
 
Saturday, May 14
Game 6 12:00 PM Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5
Game 7 2:30 PM Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 6 (If Winner of Game 5 Wins Game 6)
 
Ticket Information
All-session passes and daily tickets will not be available in advance, but may be purchased at the gate using cash or credit cards.
All-session pass: $20 for adults and $10 for students, children, seniors and military.
Daily tickets: $10 for adults and $5 for students, children, seniors, and military.
 
UP NEXT…
The No. 5-seed Lady Railsplitters will take on host and No. 1-seed Anderson in the winners bracket second round of the 2022 NCAA DII Southeast Regional Softball Championship tomorrow, Friday, May 13. First pitch is scheduled for 10 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.