Belmont, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs dropped a pair of games in their season-opening doubleheader at Belmont Abbey College in NCAA Division II softball action Friday afternoon. The Crusaders won the first game 7-1, while prevailing 9-3 in game two to move to 2-0 on the year. The 'Dogs start the season 0-2.

Game One: Belmont Abbey 7, Wingate 1

Sloane McPeak was two-for-three with three RBI to lead the Belmont Abbey attack. Mackenzie Dziendziel added two hits, two RBI and a run scored, while Brooke Pegram was three-for-four with an RBI and two runs scored.

Senior Emily Usiak (Matthews, N.C.), junior Misty Doran (Century, Fla.) and freshman Kyra Johnson (Charlotte, N.C.) each had a hit for the Bulldogs, while freshman Naomi Sapp (Guyton, Ga.) scored a run.

Wingate got on the board in the top of the first. Sapp drew a one-out walk, moved to second on a Usiak hit, then went to third on a wild pitch. Sapp would score on a passed ball.

The Crusaders took the lead with two runs in the third on a two-run single from McPeak. Dziendziel's two-run single in the fifth made it 4-1.

Pegram's RBI single in the sixth made it 5-1, while RBI singles from McPeak and Jena Reisenauer made the final margin 7-1.

Samantha Jacobs got the win, allowing a run on three hits in seven innings, striking out two and walking one to move to 1-0. Freshman right-hander Rachel Weidner (Greenville, N.C.) took the loss, falling to 0-1. She allowed three earned runs on 11 hits in six innings, striking out five and walking two.  

Game Two: Belmont Abbey 9, Wingate 3

McPeak was two-for-four with three RBI for the Crusaders, while Pegram added an RBI and two runs scored. Dziendziel had an RBI and two runs scored, while Lauren Clifford had an RBI and a run scored for Belmont Abbey.

Usiak had a double and two RBI to lead the Wingate attack in game two. Freshman Regan Huneycutt (Harrisburg, N.C.) also drove in a run, while Sapp and senior Mellena Helms (Concord, N.C.) each scored a run. Doran added two hits and a run scored for the Bulldogs, while senior Shannen Adams (Ayden, N.C.) also had a pair of hits.

Belmont Abbey took a 2-0 lead in the first when McPeak ripped an RBI double to right, then scored on a squeeze bunt from Brittany Ortiz. Pegram's bases-loaded walk in the second, followed by McPeak's two-run double made it 5-0, while a Wingate error later in the frame allowed two runs to score, making it 7-0.

The Bulldogs got on the board in the fourth when Doran scored on an RBI single from Huneycutt. Singles from Helms and Sapp started the fifth, while a two-run double from Usiak made it 7-3.

A sacrifice fly from Clifford in the sixth made it 8-3, while another bases-loaded walk from Dziendziel made the final margin 9-3.

Laura Williams got the win, allowing three runs on nine hits in in five innings, moving to 1-0. Weidner took the loss, falling to 0-2. She allowed four earned runs on seven hits in six innings, striking out seven and walking seven.

The Bulldogs are back in action Saturday, hosting Erskine in a doubleheader at 1 p.m.