GASTONIA, N.C. – The Barton baseball team (29-21) fell to Belmont Abbey (35-14) by an 8-5 score on Thursday evening at CaroMont Health Park in the opening round of the 2025 Conference Carolinas Championship.
The Crusaders' Matthew Fattore (Bridgewater, N.J.) and Joe Whitaker (Tampa, Fla.) both hit home runs while Whitaker broke a five-all tie with the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning as Belmont Abbey rallied from a 5-3 deficit to earn the win.
Barton senior catcher
Chase Waddell (Lucama, N.C.) hit a solo home run – his fourth round-tripper of the year – and scored twice despite the loss.
Belmont Abbey's Drew Stegura (Lutz, Fla.) improved to 8-3 on the year after allowing just one hit over four scoreless innings in relief to go along with three strikeouts while graduate student
A.J. Campbell (Absecon, N.J.) fell to 5-4 after taking the loss.
Barton will face rival Mount Olive (30-20) in an elimination game at Sims Legion Park on Friday afternoon at 1:00 p.m., while Belmont Abbey plays Young Harris (38-13) Friday night at 7:00 p.m.
