MURFREESBORO, N.C. – Todd Velotta continued his strong effort at the plate with a five-hit performance and a pair of home runs as the Belmont Abbey baseball team opened up a three-game Conference Carolinas series at Chowan Friday afternoon at Hawkins Field.

The Crusaders dropped the opening game 8-5 before bouncing back for a 10-2 win in the second game of the doubleheader. The two teams played the doubleheader Friday as opposed to Saturday due to weather.

Belmont Abbey is now 23-11 overall, 9-11 in the conference. Chowan is 4-21 overall, 3-14 in the league.

GAME 1

• Velotta had the first hit of the game for the Crusaders: an infield single in the top of the third inning. He finished the first game with four hits.
• Chowan took an early lead with two runs in the second and a run in the third before a five-run fifth inning gave the Hawks an 8-0 lead.
• The Crusaders began to mount a rally with a four-run seventh sparked by three home runs from Ben Ferguson, Garrett Browder and a two-run homer from Velotta.
• Belmont Abbey added another run in the eighth inning when Carter DuHaime drew a walk with the bases loaded.
• The Crusaders were able to load the bases in the ninth but were unable to bring any runs across.

GAME 2

• Chowan took a 1-0 lead in the first inning before Belmont Abbey answered with a four-run second inning highlighted by a two-run home run by Velotta.
• The Crusaders broke the game open with a five-run third inning with another home run, this one by Caleb Burr.
• Connor Powell drove in two runs with consecutive hits in the second and third innings.
• Belmont Abbey finished with six home runs on the day, capped off by a solo home run by Carter DuHaime in the sixth inning.
• Drew Stegura earned the win by pitching four scoreless innings and recording a career-best seven strikeouts.
• Josh Mruk pitched a scoreless seventh inning to close the game out.

UP NEXT
The series concludes with a single game scheduled to start at noon Saturday.