BELMONT, N.C. – The Belmont Abbey baseball team completed a three-game sweep of Emmanuel with a pair of victories in a Conference Carolinas doubleheader Saturday at Abbey Yard. The Crusaders got strong starting pitching efforts from Alex Sniffen and Brendan Simonds and the offense combined to hit four home runs during the twin bill.

The Crusaders moved to 14-5 overall and 6-2 in league play while the Lions are 8-14 and 1-8 in the conference.

GAME 1

• Sniffen got The Abbey off to a good start by not allowing a hit through the first three innings.
• The Crusaders got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to a two-run home run from Connor Tucker. Brennan Martin had reached the previous at-bat with a walk.
• The breakthrough inning for Belmont Abbey came in the fifth inning where the Crusaders scored six runs in the fram.
• Sean Johnson and Ben Gobbel led the inning off with a single and a double, respectively.
• After Zach Aehlert was intentionally walked, Adam Overcash lined a single to score a run.
• The bases were cleared with the next at-bat thanks to Martin's grand slam. It was the second straight the day that the Abbey hit a grand slam.
• The final run came when Patrick Taylor drove in Kale Rhame later in the inning.
• Sniffen allowed just one hit and struck out five in six innings.
• Ryan Giberson pitched a perfect seventh inning to close out the contest.

GAME 2

• Belmont Abbey picked up where it left off in Game 1 when Overcash hit a home run in the second inning.
• The Crusaders added a second run in the third thanks to a sacrifice fly from Aehlert.
• Brendan Simonds finished his start by allowing just one run on three hits and striking out a season-high 10 batters.
• After Emmanuel got within 2-1, the Crusaders extended the lead with a home run by Ben Ferguson and a sacrifice fly by Matty Bapst.
• Avery Short entered the game in the seventh inning and pitched the final three innings to earn the save. Short retired the last eight batters that he faced.

UP NEXT

• The Crusaders head on the road to face Coker at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
• Belmont Abbey hosts Anderson Wednesday at Abbey Yard.