FRANKLIN, Ind. – The Franklin College baseball team welcomed Earlham College to McDowell Field on Saturday (Mar. 27) for a pair of conference matchups.
Game one featured a wild affair that saw Franklin (6-3) use the long ball to erase a pair of late-inning deficits in a 12-9 win. The second game was tied 8-8 after 10 innings before being halted due to darkness. The two teams will finish the game on May 1 before a scheduled double-header between Franklin and Earlham in Richmond, Ind.
Nick Wright was the hero of game one, going 4-for-6 with seven RBI that included the game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth and a walk-off grand slam in the 10th. Quenton Wellington drove in three with a home run in the ninth and Ryan Bixler scored three runs in the win.
Game One: Franklin 12 – Earlham 9 (10 inn.)
Wright opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning and Jacob Heuchan followed with a run-scoring single of his own to make it a 2-0 game. After four straight Quaker runs, Sean Sullivan brought Franklin within a run with an RBI double in the fourth that cut the lead to 4-3.
Earlham would plate four more in the fifth and keep the Grizzlies off the scoreboard until the bottom of the ninth inning when the home side turned in an improbable comeback effort. With one out and two on, Wellington smacked his first home run of the year over the left field wall to cut the Earlham lead to 8-6. Bixler followed with a double and set the table for Wright, who launched his 26th career home run over the wall in the left field corner to tie the game.
The Quakers took the lead back with a run in the top of the 10th and had the Grizzlies down to their final out in the bottom of the inning. Bixler got hit by a pitch to load the bases and keep the rally alive and Wright followed with a no-doubter that sailed over the left field wall and ended the game.
Mitch Merica got the start and lasted four innings before turning things over to the Grizzly bullpen. Jackson Young tossed five innings of four-hit ball and Alex Reinoehl collected the win after coming in to start the 10th.
Game Two
Franklin grabbed the lead with a two-run third inning and a Sean Sullivan three-run blast in the fourth made it 5-4 Franklin. The Grizzlies faced an 8-7 deficit going into the ninth inning but tied the game when Bixler bolted for home after a set stolen base play that saw Wright fall down in the base path.
Both teams had scoring chances in extras but were unable to get a run across before darkness forced the suspension of the game.
Sullivan had three RBI and both Wellington and Bixler had two hits to lead the team. Nick McClanahan struck out six over 3.2 innings with Tyler Wick and Reinoehl entering in relief. Stats for the game won't be official until the game concludes.