BELMONT, N.C. -- Late heroics in both games of Saturday's Conference Carolinas softball doubleheader lifted Belmont Abbey to a sweep of King, 6-5 and 2-1, at Crusader Field. A wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth of the first game and Hallie Mele's walk-off home run to lead off the seventh in the second were the difference in the two closely-contested contests.

With the results, the Crusaders leapfrogged King for third place in the conference standings at 24-9, 11-5. The Tornado fall to 26-14, 10-6.

Before the games, Belmont Abbey recognized four senior members of the team -- Jordanna Shorts, Hailey Gass, Cameron Cooper and Payton Whitley.

THE OPENER

• Cooper was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored.
• Emma Frye also had two hits in three at-bats. The Crusaders finished with seven total.
• King took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but The Abbey quickly answered with two in its half of the frame. A double steal tied the game, then Cooper drove in pinch-runner Afton Jessee for the lead.
• The Crusaders added to the lead with an RBI single by Mackenzie Sprinkle in the fourth, but a three-run home run by King in the fifth, made the score 4-3.
• Cooper's second home run in as many days -- and sixth of the season -- brought home Sydney Pon and put the Crusaders up 5-4 after five.
• However, a solo home run by the Tornado in the sixth retied the contest.
• That set up the first rally of the day. Frye opened the sixth with a single to center field, then was replaced by pinch runner Kellee Branham. Emily Morgan singled to a bunt down the first base line that died on the chalk, then Sprinkle sacrificed the runner to second and third. A wild pitch on a 1-0 count, was the deciding run.
• Abby Craver (11-5) earned the win scattering six hits and five walks against five strikeout. She battled the Tornado lineup all day, especially after taking a line drive off her leg in the third.
• Alannah Browne came on in the seventh and survived a one-out double and hit batter to earn the team's first save of the season.
• Marleigh Duncan (7-6) pitched the sixth for King to take the loss.

THE NIGHTCAP

• Cooper and Mele each recorded two hits and drove in a run.
• King tallied a solo home run in the first for a 1-0 lead , but the Crusaders evened the game in the third. With two outs, an error helped Whitley reach first, then an error after an infield hit by Sydney Pon had runners at the corners. Cooper doubled to the gap in right center to even the game.
• It stayed that way until the seventh. With its 2-3-4 hitters up, King earned a walk around two outs before a pop-up stranded the runner. The Crusaders came back to the top of the order with Mele hit a 1-1 pitch over the field fence for the winner.
• Browne (10-3) earned the win, allowing five hits and four walks in the complete-game effort. She also struck out four and strander 10 King base runners.
• Nikole Counts (11-7) took the hard-luck loss for King.

UP NEXT

• Belmont Abbey faces back-to-back road trips before heading out on Easter break.
• The Crusaders travel to Emmanuel on Tuesday before a visit to Chowan the following day.