HARROGATE, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (27-15, 12-4 South Atlantic Conference) and Lincoln Memorial (19-24, 7-9 SAC) swapped a pair of shutouts Wednesday afternoon at Dorothy Neely Field.
The Eagles tallied a win in game one 3-0 on a three-hit shutout from Allison Webster (Charlestown, Ind.) before Lincoln Memorial rallied behind Samantha Smith for a one-hit shutout and an 8-0 run-rule win.
"I don't know how you could have three losses already in league play and not be ready to come out and be ready to go in game two of a conference doubleheader," head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "I give LMU credit, they come up ready to hit the ball, and hit the ball they did. Samantha Smith pitched a great game for them too.
"However, we didn't make any adjustments in game two. That's frustrating as a coach to see kids not willing to compete. That's what game two looked like to me. We were happy to win game one and then we didn't show a lick of fight in game two."
The squads have split their last three doubleheaders at Dorothy Neely Field. Carson-Newman hasn't swept LMU on the road since 2010.
Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) extended her hitting streak to six games while hitting her team-leading 12th double of the year.
Game one: Carson-Newman 3, Lincoln Memorial 0
Carson-Newman cracked the scoreboard first after its first six batters were retired in order. The Eagles got a lead-off walk from Allison Webster (Charlestown, Ind.), who worked a four-pitch walk and moved to second on a Cheyenne Boles (Knoxville, Tenn.) sacrifice.
Donna Ryan (Orlando, Fla.) then delivered a clutch base hit to score Webster with a single to left.
The Eagles wound up loading the bases in the inning as Shon Jordan (Hermitage, Tenn.) walked and Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) reached on an error for a school record 12th time this season. However, Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) grounded out to first to end the threat.
LMU mounted its first serious threat in the bottom of the fourth. Allie Jones broke up Webster's no-hitter with a single down the left field line to give LMU a baserunner in scoring position for the first time thanks to a BriAnna Schrimpf walk. However, a fielder's choice and a pop up to short ended the inning.
Carson-Newman added some insurance to its advantage in the sixth. Siebert led off the inning with a single up the middle and moved to second when Dean reached on a fielding error by the Railsplitters' second baseman Kristen McAndrew. The Railsplitters nearly got out of the inning unscathed after Pritchett and Talisa Fiame (Pacifica, Calif.) both flew out to bring up Webster.
With a 1-2 count, Webster slammed a bases-clearing double to left center field to extend the Eagles' lead to 3-0.
LMU again picked up business offensively in the bottom of the sixth. Jennifer Moose and Lindsay Cecil started off the inning with base hits to right and center, respectively. Webster generated a strikeout swinging to put the first out of the inning on the board. The second out resulted from a leaping grab in center by Andi Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) that erased a potential extra base hit from Jones' bat.
However, the Eagles' weren't out of danger, Meridith Johnson worked a five-pitch walk to load the bases with two out.
Parker Brantley pinch hit for the Railsplitters, but Webster got her to whiff for her sixth strikeout of the day to preserve the shutout. That was the last scoring chance LMU had. Webster whipped through the Railsplitters' lower third of the lineup in order to cement the win in the seventh.
Webster (17-8) tallied her 200th strikeout on the season in the performance, becoming the first Carson-Newman pitcher since Zoe Heim in 2008 to fan more than 200 batters in a single season. Heim struck out a school-record 292 that season. Webster scattered three hits and three walks in the contest.
Brianna Taylor (10-11) took the loss for LMU. She struck out eight and only gave up four hits. However, two of the Eagles' four hits came with a runner in scoring position.
Game two: Lincoln Memorial 8, C-N 0 (five innings)
In game two, LMU struck first. The first batter of the inning reached on an error before Jamie Moose singled to centerfield. A Jones sacrifice moved the pair of base runners into scoring position for Schrimpf who drove a sacrifice fly to center to give the Railsplitters a 1-0 lead.
Johnson tallied a two-out hit up the middle to bring in Cecil and push the lead to 2-0. Both runs in the first for LMU were unearned.
LMU threatened to bring more runs across in the second. McAndrew and Ashlea Hunter connected on one-out singles to start things off for the Railsplitters. Then Cecil worked a five-pitch walk to load the bases and chase C-N starter Danielle Kranz (Fairfield, Calif.) from the game.
The Eagles went back to game-one starter Webster. She walked Jamie Moose with the bases loaded to bring in the third run of the day. Jones doubled down the right field line to clear the bases and make it 6-0 Railsplitters.
LMU got another run across in the third on a Cecil single down the right field line to produce another unearned run and make it 7-0 LMU.
A Moose single through the left side scored McAndrew to end the game via the run-rule in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Kranz was handed the loss (5-6). She worked the game's first 1.1 inning, surrendering four hits, and allowing five runs, three of which were earned. She gave way to Webster who pitched 2.2 innings. The Railsplitters plated two runs off her, one earned with six hits. Dean finished the game and allowed the game-ending run to come across in a third of an inning with six hits.
Smith tallied the complete-game, one-hit shutout for LMU. She improves to 8-8 with the win.
The Eagles return home to face Wingate Saturday. First pitch against the Bulldogs is set for 1 p.m. from The Vick. Coverage will be available on the Eagle Sports Network with a free high definition stream at cneagles.com/live.
