The Belmont Abbey softball team wrapped up the 2011 season with two losses in the Conference Carolinas Tournament, which was held at Byerly Park in Hartsville, South Carolina. In the opener, the seventh-seeded Crusaders fell to the second-seeded Erskine Flying Fleet 1-0, and dropped an 11-2 five inning decision to the fifth-seeded Lees-McRae Bobcats. The Crusaders end the year with a record of 16-28.

"We really had a shot of pulling an upset against Erskine," Head Coach Ellie Hanover said. "Sami was lights out on the mound. Unfortunately, the offense couldn't get anything going. It was a well-played game by both teams. Erskine came up with the clutch hit. Lees-McRae came out strong with their bats. Sami got hit on the back of the neck in the first inning and immediately went down. It was hard to watch and shook the girls up. We couldn't seem to recover from that. Sami is ok which is a relief. A high point of the game was when Alysia came out of the game in the fifth inning for a substitute. Alysia got a nice standing ovation from players and fans. She has a lot to be proud of and should hold her head up high. She means a lot to this program and has been a true leader. We will miss her so much."

In the opening game against Erskine, the two schools battled through six innings of scoreless softball until the Flying Fleet pushed the only run of the game across in the bottom of the seventh. After a leadoff flyout, Colleen Gardner hit a seeing-eye single to left, which was followed by a foulout to catcher Alysia Stewart. Gardner stole second and scored on Larissa Shannon's bloop single to right for the winning run.

Kelsey Spurrier went the distance to earn the win for Erskine, holding the Abbey to three hits and striking out three. Sami Michaelis took the loss. She allowed one run on seven hits in six and two-thirds innings, fanning two. Michaelis, Stewart and Anna Smart all had one hit as the Crusaders finished with three.

In the elimination game against Lees-McRae, the Lady Bobcats stormed out to an 8-0 lead after three innings, plating two each in the first and second and four more in the third. The Abbey got two back in the top of the fourth on a two run homer by Carol-Anne Sherrill. Becca Rothrock led off the inning with a single to center and was replaced by pinch runner Jasmine Berryman.

Lees-McRae scored three more in the bottom of the fifth, all scoring on a homer by Lindsey Huntsingerto enact the mercy rule as the game ended there.

The Crusaders finished with six hits as Sherrill led the way with two. Rothrock, Kinsey McClure, Kelly Schweizer and Chelsea Elmore all had one hit. Six of the nine Lady Bobcats had at least two hits as they totaled 14 on the afternoon.

Magen West was credited with the win after giving up two runs on six hits in five innings, striking out two. Michaelis suffered the loss after yielding two runs on two hits in one-third of an inning.