Berea, Ky. - The Franklin College softball team collected 26 hits and three home runs during a doubleheader sweep at Berea College on Monday. The Grizzlies won the opener 16-5 before earning a 5-3 triumph in the nightcap.

Monday began an eight-game weeklong road trip in three states for the Grizzlies. The team plays road Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference contests against Hanover College on Tuesday, March 29, at 3:30 and Transylvania University on Wednesday, March 30, at 3:30 p.m. Then, Franklin plays at Maryville College in Tennessee on Thursday, March 31, at 1 p.m.

The Grizzlies (12-6) scored 11 runs in their final two at bats to win the opener. Sophomore Grace Paszek (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community) led the team's 16-hit attack by going 4-for-5 with four runs batted in. Junior Baylea Suiters (Indianapolis, Ind./Lutheran) and sophomore Morgan Burch (Coatesville, Ind./Cascade) each tallied three hits in the victory.

Franklin scored one run in the first inning before tallying two runs each in the second and third innings to build a 5-0 lead. Burch hit a two-run home run in the second inning. Paszek contributed a run-scoring single in the third inning.

Berea answered with two runs in the fourth inning before tying the game with a three-run fifth inning.

However, the visitors quickly regained the lead behind a four-run sixth inning. Paszek scored junior Taylor Johnson (Beech Grove, Ind./Beech Grove) and Suiters with a single. Senior Katie Struewing (Greenwood, Ind./Greenwood) followed with a two-run home run to give Franklin a 9-5 lead. The team sealed the victory with a seven-run seventh inning. Paszek and Burch each recorded run-scoring doubles in the frame.

Sophomore Olivia Paszek (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community) improved to 8-2 in the circle after recording nine strikeouts in six innings. Freshman Dani Speas (Martinsville, Ind./Greenwood) tossed a scoreless seventh inning in the opener.

In the second game, Franklin jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Junior Savnnah Blevins (Wilkinson, Ind./Eastern Hancock) hit a two-run home run. Burch drove home Paszek with a run-scoring single to cap the scoring in the frame.

Berea cut the deficit to one run, 3-2, in the third inning. However, Franklin tallied an insurance run in the top of the fourth inning after junior Jasmine Hanna (Frankfort, Ind./Clinton Prairie) led off the inning with a single. The Grizzlies took a 5-2 lead in the seventh inning on a double from Blevins. Berea scored one run in the seventh inning and stranded the potential game-tying run in scoring position.

Hanna led Franklin with three hits, while Blevins added two hits and three RBI.

Senior Bri McClellan (Huntington, Ind./Huntington North) struck out three batters in 6.1 innings to pick up the pitching victory. Junior Bailey Lindamood (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) recorded her first save of the season by retiring the only batters she faced.

Live statistics of Tuesday's conference doubleheader at Hanover will be available HERE. In-game updates will also be available on Twitter (@FCAthletics). Like the Grizzlies on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinCollegeAthletics), and on Instagram (@fcgrizzlies).