WINGATE, N.C. --- The Lincoln Memorial University softball team withstood a late inning rally to defeat Tusculum College by a score of 2-1 at Forest Hills High School on the second day of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament.

Tusculum (17-27) out-hit Lincoln Memorial (28-22) by a 9-6 margin, including a trio of two-hit days from Savannah Ewing, Brittany Hunley, and Ashley Burke. Shanda Kimbrough drove in the Pioneer's lone run, while Holli Cadenhead (8-13) kept Tusculum in the fight, allowing two runs on six hits and recording six strikeouts in six innings of work.

Ashley Legge and Chelley Christian each recorded two hits for the Railsplitters, as Legge and Jackie Adams each drove in a run for LMU. Meghan LaFevor (18-12) pitched a gem for the Railsplitters, allowing one run on nine hits and striking out five.

Lincoln Memorial got on the board early, pushing across the game's first run in the bottom of the first to take an early 1-0 lead on Legge's RBI single. Tusculum answered in the fourth, knotting the score at 1-1 when Phlyscia Powell scampered home on a ground ball to short after leading off the frame with a single.

The Railsplitters reclaimed the lead in the fifth, taking a 2-1 advantage on an RBI single by Adams that scored Christian from second. Tusculum threatened in each of the next two innings, putting three runners in scoring position before LaFevor and the Railsiplitters closed the door to preserve the 2-1 win.

Tusculum concludes its season with a 17-27 record, and is expected to return 17 letter-winners next year, including four of its top five run producers. Cadenhead ends her storied Pioneer career sixth in program history in wins (32), while ranking third all-time in innings pitched (498.2) and strikeouts (276).

- TC -