BELMONT, N.C. -- Freshman Lilly Hartsell began her collegiate career with 11 straight strikeouts and Erin GIll threw a no-hitter, leading Belmont Abbey to a season-opening doubleheader sweep of St. Andrews in collegiate softball action Tuesday afternoon. The Crusaders took the first game 8-0 in six innings, then won 14-0 in the nightcap.

THE OPENER

• Lily Garnett-Brown tallied three hits and scored a run, while Casey Laing and Ava Elkins added two hits apiece.
• Three players drove in a pair of runs -- Laing, McKenna Meadors and Torey Cagno.
• Hartsell finished the game with 14 strikeouts, with only four outs coming from the field. She walked one while scattering three hits.
• Belmont Abbey pounded out 12 hits to the Knights' three.
• Cagno's single to right in the second plated two after a scoreless first. A fielder's choice in the third added to the lead, while Laing's two-run home run was part of a four-run fourth that broke the game open.

THE NIGHTCAP

• Ten different players recorded at least one hit, led by Payton Colbert, Kennedy Teasley and Allie Mayer each getting two.
• Teasley drove in three and scored three times, highlighted by a two-run shot in the first. Mayer also drove in a pair on a two-run double.
• Jordan Stefani also homered in the second.
• The Crusaders jumped out early with three runs in the first and four in the second.
• Gill was just one batter away from a perfect game, hitting a batter in the fourth. She induced three flyouts and 12 groundouts.

UP NEXT

• Belmont Abbey faces its next six games on the road, beginning Friday at Fayetteville State.