BRISTOL, Tenn. —The Belmont Abbey baseball team capped off a strong week with a sweep over King Saturday at the King Baseball Field. The Crusaders defeated the Tornado 6-0 in the opener and capped off the series with a 9-1 victory in the nightcap.

Joe Whitaker led the way offensively for the Abbey by producing four hits and driving in seven runs on the day.

Spencer Cipro pitched a complete-game three-hit shutout on just 78 pitches to clinch the series for the Abbey.

With the wins, Belmont Abbey improves to 21-8 overall and 16-5 in Conference Carolinas play. King is now 10-19 overall and 7-11 in league play.

HOW IT HAPPENED
GAME 1

• Spencer Cipro worked his way out of an early jam in the second inning by retiring the side with two runners on base.
• Belmont Abbey took advantage with three runs in the third inning starting with an RBI single from Mason Janz.
• Joe Whitaker added an RBI on a fielder's choice and he later scored on an RBI single from Caleb Burr in the inning.
• The Tornado's final hit of the game came in the fourth inning.
• Whitaker made it 4-0 in the fifth following an RBI single to drive in Matthew Fattore.
• Cipro worked out of another jam in the fifth after a pair of baserunners reached on two Crusader errors in the fifth.
• Whitaker continued his strong day at the plate with a two-run double in the seventh inning.
• Cipro retired the final seven batters he faced. He needed just 78 pitches for his third complete game of the season and first shutout.

GAME 2

• Whitaker picked up right where he left off in the opener with a three-run home run in the first inning.
• Jacob Steinberg and Jack Boyles also drove in runs to cap off a five-run first inning.
• King got a run in the first inning but Belmont Abbey answered with a three-run fifth inning.
• Josh Wilson drove in two runs with an RBI single and Fattore added a sacrifice fly to make it 8-1.
• Sawyer Osborne pitched 4.1 innings and allowed one run on three hits and recorded three strikeouts.
• MJ Doan came in to relieve Osborne in the fifth inning and turned a double play to get out of the fifth.
• Doan finished his day with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief and a strikeout.
• Belmont Abbey capped the scoring off with a run in the seventh inning.
• Isaac Williams, Josh Wise and Bailey Faircloth combined to pitch the final 2.1 innings to cap off the win and the sweep.
• Jake Bidoglio and Todd Velotta accounted for two hits in the series finale.

UP NEXT

• Belmont Abbey heads on the road to face Emory & Henry in a mid-week contest on Tuesday.
• First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. from Emory, Va.