BELMONT, N.C. -- Ella Crowe delivered a pinch-hit walk-off single in game one and
Allie Mayer and
Megan Towery pushed Belmont Abbey to a four early runs in the game two, leading the Crusaders to a doubleheader sweep of Erskine in Conference Carolinas softball action Friday afternoon.
The Abbey won the opener 2-1 before a 6-2 victory in the nightcaps. It has now won four straight and seven of its last eight to even its record at 16-16 with an 8-6 league mark. The Flying Fleet fall to 5-21, 3-9.
THE OPENER
- Towery went 2-for-3 with an RBI single in the first for the game's first run. After Erskine tied the game in the second, the teams settled in for a defensive struggle until the seventh. with one out, Ava Elkins was hit by a pitch and came all the way around from first Crowe's single to the wall in right center.
- Casey Laing also had two hits for the Crusaders, both doubles. Mayer and Alayna Patrick rounded out the seven-hit attack.
- Sienna Garcia threw a complete-game four-hitter to improve to 9-9. She walked two and struck out six, facing just 26 batters.
THE NIGHTCAP
- Belmont Abbey jumped out to a 4-0 with two runs in both the second and third innings. With two outs and runners on second and third, Mayer hit a 1-1 pitch to the wall in left, scoring Lily Garnett-Brown and Abby Piesker. In the third, Laing doubled with one out before Towery hit a rocket over the centerfield fence.
- Erskine cut the deficit in half on a two-run home run in the top of the fifth, but Trinity Wall delivered a two-out, two run single in the bottom half to push the margin back to four.
- Wall, Laing and Towery each had two hits in the contest, with Crowe, Garnett-Brown, Elkins and Mayer also adding hits.
- Erin Gill (4-2) earned the win with 6.0 solid innings in the circle. She allowed just five hits and four walks while striking out two before Mellany Garcia threw a scoreless seventh.
UP NEXT
- Belmont Abbey returns to action tomorrow with a key Northwest Division matchup at Converse.
- The teams split a doubleheader in Belmont back on March 17.
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