GASTONIA, N.C. — The Belmont Abbey baseball team won two elimination games Sunday at CaroMont Health Park to make a return trip to the championship game of the 2025 Conference Carolinas Baseball Tournament.

The Crusaders won the opening game of the day 15-4 in eight innings over No. 6 seed Barton followed by a 3-1 victory over No. 8 seed Emmanuel.

The Abbey used power in the first game by hitting eight home runs to earn a win over the Bulldogs while Ryan Weller put together his best pitching performance in a Crusader uniform with a complete game against the Lions.

With Sunday's results, Belmont Abbey improves to 38-15 on the season while Barton and Emmanuel close their seasons with records of 31-22 and 29-26, respectively.

GAME 1: Belmont Abbey 15, Barton 4

• Layton Dickerson made his first career start in a Belmont Abbey uniform and held Barton scoreless for the first four innings.
• The Crusaders got on the board in the fourth inning thanks to a leadoff home run from Todd Velotta followed by an RBI single from Carter DuHaime.
• The Abbey capped the inning with a three-run home run from Jake Bidoglio.
• Belmont Abbey kept the power going with a two-run home run from Caleb Burr in the fifth later followed by a sacrifice fly from Bidoglio.
• After two runs scored in the fifth for Barton, Velotta answered right back with the second home run from Velotta and an RBI single from Joe Whitaker.
• Barton got a run back in the sixth on an RBI double.
• The Crusaders put an exclamation point on the game with four home runs in a row from Jackson Risk, Burr, DuHaime and Whitaker.
• Spencer Cipro earned the win after pitching four innings of relief.

GAME 2: Belmont Abbey 3, Emmanuel 1

• Ryan Weller gave the Abbey a boost on the mound as he did not allow a hit in the first five innings of work.
• The Crusaders took an early 2-0 lead thanks a two-run home for Bidoglio, the third in as many games.
• Emmanuel got on the board with a sacrifice fly in the sixth but the Crusaders answered with an RBI single from Carter DuHaime in the bottom of the inning.
• Burr finished with three hits and scored the final run of the game.
• The Lions had two runners on base in the seventh inning but a double play and inning-ending strikeout from Weller stemmed the Lions rally.
• After a hit by pitch in the eighth inning, Weller retired the final six batters he faced to put the Abbey back in the championship.
• Weller finished with a career-high seven strikeouts on 119 pitches and allowed just one run on four hits.

UP NEXT

• Belmont Abbey will face No. 2 seed Young Harris starting at 11 a.m. Monday.
• The Crusaders will need to win two games to take the title while Young Harris will just need to win once.