Wilmington, Ohio - The Franklin College softball team completed a perfect weekend with a road doubleheader sweep over Wilmington College 7-5 and 9-1 on Sunday afternoon. The Grizzlies earned a road sweep over Mount St. Joseph University to open Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday.

Franklin (11-5) used a four-run fifth inning to tie the opener of the doubleheader at five runs apiece. Wilmington scored all five of its runs in the first inning to grab the early lead. A two-run triple by junior McKensie Vanosdol (North Vernon, Ind./Jennings County) cut the deficit to 5-4. The base hit scored senior Jessica Ayers (Frankfort, Ind./Frankfort) and sophomore Baylea Suiters (Indianapolis, Ind./Lutheran). Junior Michelle Murphy (Columbus, Ind./Columbus North), pinch running for Vanosdol, scored the tying run on a single by junior Katie Struewing (Greenwood, Ind./Greenwood).

The visitors took a 6-5 lead in the sixth inning on a double from sophomore Taylor Johnson (Beech Grove, Ind./Beech Grove). The hit scored junior Anne Schwomeyer (Greenwood, Ind./Greenwood).

Franklin pushed across an insurance run in the seventh inning on a double by Struewing.

Freshman Olivia Paszek (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community) secured the victory with two scoreless innings to pick up the save. Freshman Steph Smith (Greenwood, Ind./Greenwood) picked up her first collegiate victory with 4.1 scoreless innings in relief.

In the second game, Franklin again scored four times in the fifth inning. This time the big frame gave the team a 6-1 lead. The Grizzlies scored in five of the seven innings and tallied 16 hits in the contest.

A single by Murphy scored Struewing to give the visitors a 1-0 lead in the second inning. The Quakers got the run back in the bottom of the second inning. Franklin took the lead for good on a single by Struewing in the third inning. She went 4-for-4 with three runs scored in the game.

Paszek struck out four batters and allowed one run in six innings to pick up the victory in the circle.

Offensively, Struewing led the attack going 6-for-8 with two runs driven in and four runs scored in the two games. Vanosdol recorded three hits in the opener. Suiters tallied three hits in the second game. The Grizzlies had 26 hits combined on the day.

Franklin is scheduled to return to action on Wednesday, March 25 at 3:30 p.m. when it hosts Olivet College (Michigan) at Behrens Field. Live statistics of the doubleheader will be available.