FRANKLIN, Ind. – The Franklin baseball team opened their home schedule on Friday (Mar. 6) afternoon, taking on Hope College on a chilly and windy afternoon after John P. McDowell Field.

The Grizzlies (3-3) fell victim to the Flying Dutch (1-0), 15-7, with the game called after six innings due to darkness at McDowell Field.

Franklin fell behind after the Dutch plated one run in the second and six more in the third, but countered with a three-run third inning. With two outs in the frame, Alex Mis ripped a double into the right-center field gap that plated Ryan Bixler and got Franklin on the board. Mis scored later on a wild pitch and Logan Demkovich capped the inning with a run-scoring single to make it a 7-3 game.

It was as close as the Grizzlies would get as Hope plated two in the fourth and four in the fifth, with all runs coming unearned. Franklin tacked on four runs in their half of the fifth with Matt Olovich and Ryan Bixler collecting RBI hits in the frame. 

Nick Elmendorf (0-1) got the start for the Grizzlies, allowing four runs and striking out three without allowing a hit over two innings. Tyler Robinson struck out a career-high five batters over three innings in relief while Bret Sawyer tossed the final inning.

The Grizzlies will have a chance to win their weekend series with the Flying Dutch with two games on tap for Saturday (Mar. 7). First pitch of game one is set for noon from McDowell Field.