BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The softball regular season took a little longer to complete Saturday as Belmont Abbey and King battled through eight innings in both games of a Conference Carolinas doubleheader on Saturday. Each team came out victorious as the Crusades won the opener 10-9, with the Tornado rallying for a 12-11 victory in the nightcap.
With the results, The Abbey -- picked seventh in the preseason coaches' poll -- finished in a three-way tie with King and Mount Olive for second place at 18-14, 14-6. The Crusaders will be seeded third for next week's Conference Carolinas Tournament.
Payton Whitley had seven hits on the day, including a double, triple and home run. She scored six runs with five runs batted in.
THE OPENER
- Whitley led an 11-hit attack with a 3-for-4 effort. She scored three runs, the most important on a game-tying home run on a 2-2 count with two outs in the top of the seventh.
- Kellee Branham also had multiple hits with a pair of singles.
- Despite scoring four runs in the first inning, The Abbey had to rally from a 6-4 deficit with a run in the fifth and Whitley's home run.
- Three of the four runs in the eighth were unearned after an error on the first batter. King tried to rally with a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, but the Alannah Browne (5-2) stranded the tying runner on base.
THE NIGHTCAP
- The Crusaders had a season-high 17 hits with the trio of Payton Whitley, Hailey Gass and Kellee Branham each collecting three.
- Whitley also scored three times and drove in four with a double and home run.
- Sydney Pon's two hits were also a double and homer as she scored twice and plated three.
- The Crusaders led 11-6 heading into the bottom of the seventh, but King rallied to force extra innings.
UP NEXT
- The Conference Carolinas Tournament begins Thursday at Tyger River Park in Duncan, S.C.
- The Crusaders face No. 6 seed North Greenville at 2 p.m.
- The tournament is a double-elimination format.
