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Belmont Abbey scores well, sweeps Shepherd in a three-game baseball series

By Bob Madison - For the Chronicle | Feb 14, 2025

Sharp

BELMONT, N.C. — It was baseball weather for the most part, and host Belmont Abbey College helped Shepherd University try to find its outside legs in a three-game college baseball weekend series, where the Crusaders totaled 46 runs and won all three games to improve their record to 6-1.

None of the games were particularly close, with the Crusaders of Conference Carolinas winning 20-2 and 12-0 on Friday and then closing the series with a 14-9 win, in a single game on a cloud-filled and coolish Saturday afternoon just outside the city of Charlotte, N.C.

Shepherd’s three starting pitchers — Trevor Sharp, Daniel Quintana and Michael Burnley — were all holdovers from last year’s team that finished with a 21-25 overall record.

Getting outside the confines of its indoor practice facility had to come some time for the Rams, but the Crusaders had already played three games and showed no ill effects of just getting the 2025 season underway.

Some agonizing statistics were accumulated by the just-starting Rams.

Quintana

Belmont Abbey was successful on 19-of-21 stolen base attempts. Shepherd made nine errors in just three games. Shepherd pitchers hit a seldom-if-ever seen 25 batters. The Ram pitchers issued 22 walks and had a combined ERA of 15.95.

No Ram pitcher who pitched more than one inning had an ERA of lower than 10.80.

The Shepherd offense produced no home runs and no triples.

Infielder Wyatt Miles had a total of four hits and Ethan Jones hit .375 in the three-game set.

The first inning in all three games proved to be troublesome for the Rams. Belmont Abbey scored seven times in the opening inning of its 20-2 win, had two runs in the first inning when winning 12-0 and then scored four runs in its 14-9 win where it once led 8-1.

Burnley

In the season opener, Sharp hit three batters in his short appearance that saw him retire only one batter. He also issued two walks and allowed two hits.

Quintana followed by getting stung for two runs in the opening inning of his start. And then Burnley allowed four runs in falling behind early in his start.

Enclosed in its cold weather capsule, Shepherd had to start some time and somewhere. The weekend in the southern sector of North Carolina didn’t yield much that was positive. Maybe this weekend’s games against Pembroke (North Carolina) scheduled to be played in Florence, S.C. will yield some confidence-building innings for the new-look, new-coach Rams.

Miles

Jones