The Belmont Abbey College Baseball Team (34-24) swept a doubleheader from Lenoir-Rhyne University (24-23), 3-2 and 8-0, Wednesday afternoon at Bears Field. The Crusaders, winners of the Conference Carolinas Tournament, have already earned a berth in the NCAA Division II Playoffs while the Bears played their last games of the year.

Game One - Belmont Abbey 3, Lenoir-Rhyne 2 (seven innings)

Belmont Abbey's Andrew Morton (Lexington, N.C.) limited Lenoir-Rhyne to just one run on one hit in six innings pitched in improving to 7-2 on the year to lead the Crusaders to the win.

Belmont Abbey got all it needed in the top of the first inning on a two-run double by Danny Brion (Virginia Beach, Va.). L-R cut the margin to 2-1 thanks to junior third baseman Michael Pleau's RBI single in the bottom of the second inning but Belmont Abbey
pushed the advantage back to two runs at 3-1 thanks to an unearned run in the top of the seventh.

The Bears closed the gap to 3-2 in their half of the seventh on an RBI groundout by sophomore catcher *Brian Dice *(Hickory, N.C.) but Belmont Abbey's Jordan Cudney (Charlotte, N.C.) got the final out for his eighth save of the year in preserving the victory.

L-R senior *Greg Conrad *(Charlotte, N.C.) took the loss despite going the distance and limiting Belmont Abbey to just one earned run on three hits. Conrad fell to 5-5 on the season.

Game Two - Belmont Abbey 8, Lenoir-Rhyne 0 (seven innings)

The Crusaders jumped out to 5-0 lead after an inning and a half of play and never looked back en route to the doubleheader sweep.

Belmont Abbey's Daniel Kassouf (Lexington, N.C.) hit a two-run home run in the top of the first inning and Justin Vasquez (Palm City, Fla.) connected on a bases-clearing triple in the second frame for the five-run advantage.

The Crusaders added single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings for the 8-0 final while Vasquez finished with a game-high four runs batted in.

Belmont Abbey's Michael Raymond (Mount Holly, N.C.) struck out eight batters in six shutout innings as he improved to 5-4 on the year while L-R junior Chris Henderson (Lincolnton, N.C.) fell to 5-6 with the loss.