ROME- After picking up their first road win in an 8-4 final against Middle Georgia on Tuesday, the Hawks head back to the Hill to face their first conference opponent of 2026 in a weekend series against the reigning conference champions, Belmont Abbey.

Games 1 and 2 will be played on Friday, February 13, with Game 1 starting at 12:00 p.m. EST and Game 2 at 3:00 p.m. EST. Game 3 will commence at 12:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, February 14. All games will have live stats available via StatBroadcast and will be streamed on the Conference Carolinas Digital Network.

NOTES

• After a dominant series sweep against Kentucky State, the Hawks took the first train to Cochran, GA to face Middle Georgia State. Tyler Zawacki had a double-dinger day, sending over his second and third, along with Micah Shipman entering his name into the 2026 Hawks Home Run list for the first time. Henriquez and Tattershall also went deep for their fourth times this season.
• Grady Parsons, making his first start for the Hawks, earned the win after going four innings, striking out two, and walking one. Colby Schachtner picked up where Parsons left off, clocking in three innings with two punchouts and zero walks.
• Tanner Folds will start game one for the Hawks. In his last start, he struck out three batters in five innings, posting an ERA of 3.60.
• J.D. Wilkins or Logan Bryson will take game two. Wilkins recorded a team-high seven strikeouts in four innings, posting an ERA of 2.25 in his last time on the mound.
• Logan Bryson closed out Tuesday's game for the Hawks, retiring the final batter. Bryson also struck out four over three innings, allowing no earned runs, in his last start against Kentucky State.
• Jay O'Neal will be on the bump for game three. O'Neal struck out four batters in three innings in his last start against Kentucky State.

SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS

• This upcoming weekend will mark the first time Shorter has ever faced Belmont Abbey.
• Belmont Abbey enters this weekend coming off a 16-8 loss on the road against non-conference Lander University. The Crusaders are undefeated in conference play following a three-game sweep against Emmanuel to open their season and are 4-1 overall, headed to the Hill.

CRUSADERS TO LOOK OUT FOR

• Senior Joe Whitaker is leading the Crusaders in average (.500), slugging percentage (1.000), hits (9), RBIs (8), with two home runs on the season so far, hitting his most recent in Belmont Abbey's loss to Lander this past Tuesday. Whitaker shows patience at the plate with four walks and four strikeouts, but eight RBIs in nine hits would garner pitching around him with runners on base. Since he is a contact hitter, the key is to capitalize on pitches that will keep anything he hits as low to the ground as possible.
• The Belmont Abbey rotation has been dominant in the small sample size that they've been on display. The dangerous part about the rotation is that they will eat innings as well, giving you at least five or six per start. However, they've suffered bullpen woes as of late, meaning that the Hawks will need to hold their own until the starting arm is retired, and then do their best to beat up on the bullpen arms.

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