The Belmont Abbey softball team split a Conference Carolinas doubleheader at Mount Olive Sunday afternoon, dropping the opener 8-6 and rallying to win game two, 7-3. The Abbey is now 17-15 overall and 9-3 in Conference Carolinas, while Mount Olive moves to 14-22 overall and 5-4 in Conference Carolinas.

"Both teams battled back and forth all day," Head Coach Ellie Hanover said. "We fell apart the first game but fought hard in the second game to get the win. I give Mount Olive a lot of credit for coming back the way they did in the first game. We did the same thing in the second game and I'm happy for that reason. It is anybody's game on any given day. All-in-all, we had a good weekend. We have two big challenges ahead of us this week with home games against Limestone and Queens. We have to be better for the next game. That has been the goal all year."

In the opener, the Abbey bolted out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first as the Crusaders capitalized on two Trojan errors to score four runs. Becca Rothrock, Kim Anders and Sami Michaelis all had RBI singles, and Cadace Cady drove in two with a single back up the middle.

Aubrey Reinhard's two-out RBI-single in the bottom of the second put Mount Olive on the scoreboard and Allison Czerski got the Trojans' third-inning rally going with a two-run double. A bases-loaded walk and hit batsman brought in two more runs to tie the game and Katie Devenuto singled through the left side to give Mount Olive its first lead at 6-5.

The Trojans added a run in the fourth, but Belmont Abbey added a run in the sixth as Anna Smart's RBI-single brought the Crusaders within 7-6. Minshew scored an insurance run for Mount Olive in the bottom of the sixth, leading off the inning with a double, stealing third and scoring on Czerski's bunt single.

Czerski was 3-for-3 with three runs batted in, her second three-RBI performance in three games. Minshew hit her 12th double of the season and she is now a perfect 17-for-17 in stolen bases.

Sarah Saunders (2-5) retired 13 of 15 batters after the first inning, but ran into trouble in the fifth. Saunders allowed only two earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. Darden took over with two outs and runners on second and third. After walking the first batter, Darden ended the threat with a ground out. Darden overcame a two-out error in the seventh to seal the win.

Anders (7-6) went the distance for the Crusaders.

In the second game, Belmont Abbey starter Emily Self held Mount Olive hitless until Robbin Kennedy singled with one out in the bottom of the fourth. Kennedy stole second and tied the game 1-1 after Aubrey Reinhard reached on an error.

Belmont Abbey regained the lead in the top of the fifth as Megan Riveros reached on an error to lead off the inning and scored on Rothrock's two-out RBI-double. Mount Olive tied the game in the bottom of the fifth when Kayla Voorhees singled with one out, stole second and scored on Czerski's two-out RBI-single.

The Crusaders used an error, a walk and Kasey Kerley's single to load the bases with one out. Two runs came in when Riveros beat out a bunt single and Smart and Rothrock added RBI-singles to break the game open.

Voorhees got a run back for Mount Olive in the bottom of the seventh with her second home run of the season.

Trojan starting pitcher Kristin Ware (5-5) recorded seven strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. Michaelis pitched the final 2 1/3 innings in relief for Belmont Abbey for the win.

Game One Box
Game Two Box