The Belmont Abbey baseball team split its doubleheader with the visiting 20th-ranked Erskine Flying Fleet, winning the opener 7-5 before falling in the nightcap 6-5. The Abbey is now 6-5 overall and 1-2 in Conference Carolinas, while Erskine improves to 8-2 and 2-1 in Conference Carolinas.

In the opener, the Abbey trailed 5-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh before it exploded for four runs, scoring on a passed ball and using a three-run blast by Daniel Kassouf to give the Crusaders the 7-5 lead, which would be the final.

Erskine jumped ahead 2-0 in the first but the Crusaders responded with single runs in the second and third innings, getting RBI singles from Josh Frazier and Kassouf. The Fleet would respond with two in the fourth and one in the fifth to pull ahead 5-2, but the Abbey scored the final five runs of the contest to take command of the game. The Crusaders plated one in the sixth as Spencer Sobol scored on a wild pitch to close the Erskine lead to 5-3, and the four run seventh inning proved to be the winning runs.

Belmont native Zach Horne earned his first win after holding the Erskine offense to just one hit over the final two and two-thirds scoreless innings, striking out two and walking two. Russell Reid was charged with the loss after giving up four runs, three earned, on three hits in an inning and two-thirds.

Game two, which was seven innings, saw the Abbey jump ahead 2-0 in the first on a two-run blast by Justin Vasquez. Erskine would answer with four in the third, but the Crusaders got one of those runs back in their half as Kassouf came home on a wild pitch.

The Fleet would get breathing room by scoring one in the fourth on an RBI single by Greg Huff, and another in the fifth on a solo homer by Bryan Fogle.

Belmont Abbey would answer with two in the fifth on one swing of the bat, as Kassouf ripped a two-run homer to bring the Abbey within one at 6-5. Neither team scored again in the final two innings as the game ended with the 6-5 score.

Huitt Scarborough, the second of four Fleet hurlers, earned the win after giving up three runs on two hits in three and one-thirds innings. He struck out five and walked one. Atlee Pearson earned the save after giving up a hit over the final inning and a third, striking out one. Michael Raymond was charged with the loss after yielding five runs on eight hits in four innings. He struck out three and walked one.