Belmont Abbey senior leftfielder Tim Dye slugged a pair of homers and drove in five runs as the Crusaders baseball team defeated the visiting Young Harris College Mountain Hawks 18-6 this afternoon at Abbey Yard in the finale of a four-game series. The Abbey improves to 7-3, while Young Harris falls to 1-6.

Belmont Abbey finished with 15 hits, eight of those going for extra bases with three home runs. Dye went two for three with five RBI and three runs scored. He clubbed two homers and had a sacrifice fly. Chris Vazquez finished three for four, lacing two doubles, with four RBI and one run scored. Roberto Sanchez, Caleb Shore and Kyle Buchanan all had two hits. Buchanan hit a solo homer in the bottom of the first.

Zach Bricknell and Jack Morrow both led Young Harris with two hits apiece as the Mountain Hawks recorded ten hits on the afternoon. Both teams committed three errors defensively.

Cody Stull earned the win in six strong innings, giving up six runs, but only two earned, on seven hits while fanning six. Taylor Topping, the first of six Young Harris pitchers, was saddled with the loss. He allowed eight runs, six earned, on six hits in four innings.
After Buchanan put the Abbey ahead 1-0 on his homer to left in the first, Young Harris tied the game on a single back through the box by second baseman Mike Medori.

The Abbey immediately regained the lead in the bottom of the second when Dye tucked a solo homer just inside the leftfield foul pole. Young Harris matched it in the top of the third on a leadoff homer by Tommy Ferguson, but the Crusaders went back ahead in the bottom of the frame after they scored four times. Michael Vargas scored on a wild pitch after he led off reaching on an error. He later scored on a wild pitch. Buchanan and Vazquez laced RBI singles, and Dye's fly ball to center was deep enough to score Joey Frabasile to put the Abbey up 6-2.

Young Harris tied the game at six after it plated one in the fourth and three more in the fifth, but the Abbey responded with a four-run fifth to regain a lead it would never lose.

The Crusaders loaded the bases with nobody out after Shore and Buchanan drew walks and Frabasile was hit by a pitch. Vazquez plated Shore with a deep fly to center, and Dye followed with his second homer of the day, a high towering shot to left center to move the Abbey ahead 10-6.

The advantage widened to 13-6 one inning later and in the eighth it grew to 18-6 after scoring five runs. Shore laced a one out double down the leftfield line, followed by a walk to Buchanan. Frabasile ripped a single to left scoring Shore. Frabasile and Buchanan moved up a base when the Mountain Hawks leftfielder bobbled the ball. Vazquez doubled both men home. Vazquez and Dye, who walked earlier, moved up one base on a passed ball. Tyler Dye then produced a groundout that scored Vazquez, and Gabby Amor ended the scoring with a single to center that brought home Dye.