Franklin, Ind. - Franklin College sophomore Drew Kammerer (Fortville, Ind./Mt. Vernon) hit a two-run walk-off home run with two outs to give the baseball team an 8-6 come-from-behind victory over Wabash College on Tuesday from John P. McDowell Field. Senior Scott Windler (Lafayette, Ind./Lafayette Central Catholic) tied the game with a two-run home run also with two outs in the ninth inning.
Franklin (9-4) got out of a bases-loaded jam with one out in the ninth inning to keep the deficit to two runs, 6-4. Sophomore pitcher Justin Brown (Jimtown, Ind./Jimtown) got Wabash's Tyler Hampton to foul out and struck out Drew Biddle to end the threat.
In the bottom of ninth inning, senior Rickey DuBois (Mishawaka, Ind./Penn) singled to open the frame. After two consecutive outs, Windler hit his third home run of the season to square the game at 6-6. Sophomore Joe Ardizzone (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) would continue the rally with a single. Then, Kammerer hit his second home run of the season just inside the left field foul pole and over the fence to give the Grizzlies the victory.
Franklin took a 4-1 lead after four innings. Freshman Cody Shipley (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) got the scoring started with his first collegiate home run in the second inning. The hosts hit three home runs in the game.
The Grizzlies added two more runs in the third inning, before a double from junior Mitch Frey (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) plated junior Jameson Brock (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) in the fourth inning.
Wabash (5-5) tied the game at 4-4 in the fifth inning behind a solo home run from David Oliger and a two-run double by Tyler Owensby. The Little Giants took a 6-4 lead in the seventh inning as Hampton hit a RBI groundout and Biddle doubled to score Tanner Watson.
Then came Franklin's ninth inning game-winning rally.
Franklin's Windler led the team's 14-hit attack by going 3-for-5 with two runs batted and two runs scored. Ardizzone also chipped in three hits and scored a run. Frey and Shipley recorded multiple-hit efforts.
On the mound, Brown improved to 2-0 on the season as the right hander did not allow a run in three innings in relief. He struck out four batters and gave up just two hits.
Senior Taylor Glaze (Lafayette, Ind./Lafayette Central Catholic) struck out eight batters in six innings in his second starting assignment of the season.
Wabash's Trey Fankhauser had three of the team's 10 hits in the contest. Owensby drove in two runs and had two hits. Ross Hendrickson suffered the loss, dropping to 1-2 on the season. The right hander allowed four runs in 2.2 innings.
Franklin opens Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, March 21 at 4 p.m. against the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati. The games will be played at the University of Cincinnati. Live statistics of all three games in the series will be available here. In-game updates will also be available on Twitter (@FCAthletics) and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinCollegeAthletics).