BELMONT, N.C. – The Belmont Abbey baseball team continued its strong performance at the plate by jumping out to an early lead and never looking back for a 12-5 victory over UNC Pembroke in a Conference Carolinas series opener Friday at Abbey Yard.
 
The Crusaders scored 10 runs in the first three innings and also finished with double digits in hits for the seventh straight game.
 
Kale Rhame and Sean Johnson had three hits each to lead The Abbey, who moved to 20-9 overall and 11-4 in conference play. The Braves are now 19-8 and 11-2 in the league.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Belmont Abbey jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning starting with an RBI groundout from Ben Ferguson. The RBI scored Johnson, who led off with a single and advanced to third base after Adam Overcash reached base on a Braves error.
• Overcash scored on an RBI single from Kale Rhame two batters later.
• Ben Gobbel added the third run when he stole home on a double steal. He reached base after being hit by a pitch.
• The Crusaders' bats came to life in the second inning with three home runs in the frame from Brennan Martin, Johnson and Rhame, respectively.
• Martin's home run was a leadoff homer while Johnson and Rhame's homers were two-run and three-run homers, respectively.
• The Abbey extended the lead to 10-0 in the third with RBI singles from Ferguson and Johnson.
• Rhame drove in two more runs in the eighth inning with an RBI single. He finished with a season-best six runs batted in for the game.
• Jason White earned his sixth win of the season by striking out six in seven innings.

 
UP NEXT

• The series concludes with a doubleheader against UNC Pembroke beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday at Abbey Yard.