Ooltewah's Brianna Taylor Tosses Gem As LMU Splits Season-Opening Doubleheader With Trevecca Nazarene

Freshman Brianna Taylor (Ooltewah, Tn.) twirled a complete-game gem to help the Lincoln Memorial Lady Railsplitters (1-1) split a nonconference doubleheader with the Trevecca Nazarene Trojans (3-3) in the 2015 softball season opener on Wednesday at Dorothy Neely Field.
 
Lincoln Memorial was completely handcuffed in Wednesday's first game, recording just three hits in an 8-0 loss in six innings.

The Lady Railsplitters bounced back behind Taylor's masterful start in game two, scoring two early runs and holding on for a 2-1 victory.
 
Game One - Trevecca Nazarene 8, Lincoln Memorial 0 (6 innings)
 
Trojan starter Haley Fagan befuddled the Lady Railsplitters from start to finish, striking out seven while allowing only three hits in six innings of work. Fagan did not allow a single hit until Amanda Snow (Knoxville, Tenn.) slashed a single back up the middle in the top of the fourth.
 
The TNU offense provided plenty of run support for Fagan, scoring in five of the six innings.
 
Ansley Brantley got it started with a leadoff solo home run in the top of the first frame. The Trojans went down in order in the second, but Kelsey Kemp and Lindsey Stephens plated runs with back-to-back singles in the third frame. Trevecca was given life in that inning by a wild pitch. LMU starter Samantha Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) struck out the first three batters she faced in the third, but a wild pitch to Brantley on strike three allowed the inning to continue.
 
Fagan helped herself in the fourth stanza, following up a walk to Alex Richardson with a run-scoring double into the gap in right center.
 
The Lady Railsplitters squandered their best scoring opportunity of the game in the bottom of the fourth. An infield error and Snow's single put a runner on first and second with no outs, but a failed bunt attempt resulted in a twin killing. Fagan then fanned the next batter to end the threat.
 
Mackenzie Leding bolstered the Trojan lead with a single in the top of the fifth, plating Kemp, who reached on a fielder's choice.
 
The Trojans put the game out of reach in the sixth inning, loading the bases with no outs following singles by Shelby Andrews and Sammie Jo Ivy and a hit-by-pitch to Brantley. Kemp plated the first run with an RBI fielder's choice, and Jordan Griner brought the run rule into effect with a bloop, two-run single into left field.
 
Emilee Solomon (Knoxville, Tenn.) singled to lead off the home half of the sixth frame, but the next three batters went down in order to end the game.
 
Smith was not sharp in her first start of the season, taking the loss after allowing five hits and four earned runs with a pair of walks in 4 2/3 innings. She struck out four batters over that span. Snow provided 1 1/3 innings of relief, relinquishing three runs and three hits.
 
Solomon, Snow and Ashlea Hunter (Woodruff, S.C.) accounted for the Lady Railsplitters' only three hits.
 
Game Two - Lincoln Memorial 2, Trevecca Nazarene 1
 
In her first career collegiate start, Brianna Taylor carried herself like a veteran. Taylor loaded the bases in the top of the first and allowed a solo home run in the second, but settled down and surrendered only three hits without a run the rest of the way.
 
The Ooltewah, Tenn. native was electric in picking up her first win, striking out nine batters. Taylor's nine strikeouts were the most by an LMU player since Snow fanned 12 batters in a 7-2 win over Union on April 3, 2013.
 
Andrews's solo bomb put the Lady Railsplitters in a 1-0 hole through an inning and a half.
 
A run-scoring opportunity opened up for Lincoln Memorial in the second as singles by Hunter and Jaclyn Cokeroft (Longwood, Fla.) put two runners on with one out. But back-to-back strikeouts left the two runners stranded in scoring position.
 
The Lady Railsplitters broke through in the third frame, though, producing all the run support Taylor would need. Solomon ripped a double off of the bottom of the fence in left field, and Snow followed two batters later with a towering, two-out double into left center, knotting the game at 1-1. A walk and a single kept the inning alive, and Cokeroft took advantage by giving LMU a 2-1 lead with a single back up the box.
 
Taylor wouldn't allow a runner into scoring position for the remainder of the contest. She struck out the side in the fourth and worked around a two-out walk in the fifth. The right-hander tore right through the top of the Trojans' batting order in the seventh frame, striking out Kemp and clean-up hitter Griner to close out the contest.
 
Snow, Hunter and Cokeroft each finished with two hits in the contest, while Cokeroft and Snow drove in a run apiece.
 
Next on tap, the Lady Railsplitters travel to Columbus, Ga. for the CSU Cougar Classic. Lincoln Memorial plays four different opponents during its weekend visit to the Peach State, beginning with Georgia College at noon on Saturday (2/14).