FRANKLIN, Ind. – The Earlham College baseball split a doubleheader at Franklin on Saturday, falling in game two 21-18 and winning game two 11-5 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) action on Saturday. Because of the Quakers' 9-4 win in game one on Friday, Earlham took the series 2-1.
In the game one loss, Earlham got on the board with three runs in the first inning. Junior Eric Elkus drove in two runs with an RBI-single and fellow junior Cody Krumlauf singled home sophomore Joe Pipher. Two innings later, Elkus connected on a three-run home run putting Earlham up 6-0.
The Franklin offense then came alive, scoring six runs in the third and 13 runs in the fourth to take a 19-7 lead.
The Quakers did not give up, however, scoring at least two runs in the final five innings. Earlham did get the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but could not deliver the game-tying hit.
The two teams combined for 43 hits (20 for Earlham and 23 for Franklin) in the contest. Elkus led the way going 4-6 with two home runs and a career-high nine RBIs. Krumlauf and senior Brandon Smalling also added four hits.
Senior Bryce Rainey took the loss, allowing four earned runs and nine hits in three innings. Christian Sullivan got the win for the Grizzlies.
In the game two win, Earlham tallied two runs on two Franklin errors in the second. Trailing 2-1, the Grizzlies used two hits and one error to score three runs in the second.
Earlham responded with three runs on three hits in the fourth spurned by a two-RBI single from junior Brennan Laird. The Grizzlies tied the game 5-5 in the bottom half of the frame.
An RBI-double from Krumlauf put Earlham back on top 6-5 in the fifth. The Quakers broke open the game with four runs on four hits in the sixth.
Earlham would score the game's final run in the seventh.
Laird and Krumlauf each finished with three hits in the victory. Laird drove in three runs and also stole two bases. Senior Ethan Bailey had just one hit, but drove in five runs.
Junior John Cornett picked up the victory allowing five earned runs while striking out five in 5.2 innings of work. Sophomore Dorian Holmes and freshman Walter Talcott finished the contest and allowed just one hit over the final 3.1 innings.
Earlham improves to 15-5 on the season including 5-3 in HCAC competition. The Quakers return to action on Tuesday for a 4:15 game at Bluffton.