HAMILTON, Ohio – The Franklin College baseball team made their first road trip of the year on Saturday (Mar. 20) for a pair of games against the Mount St. Joseph Lions.

Franklin (5-3) put together a dominant afternoon, recording 24 hits and holding the Lions in check offensively on their way to 13-2 and 14-3 wins, respectively.

Game One: Franklin 13 – MSJ 2
The Grizzlies got right to work putting a crooked number on the board, taking a 3-0 lead in their first at-bat on an RBI double from Nick Wright, a run-scoring triple from Sean Sullivan and Sullivan scoring on a passed ball. The Lions cut into the lead with two in the second but Ryan Bixler restored a two-run lead with a sac fly in the second.

The rest of the game wasn't close as Franklin plated two in the fourth, one in the fifth, three in the seventh and three in the eighth. Quenton Wellington and Tysen Lipscomb knocked in three runs each and Logan Demkovich plated a pair with his first home run of the year in the top of the eighth.

Krae Sparks allowed just two runs and one hit over four innings before he was lifted after four innings. Nick McClanahan (2-0) took over in the fifth and scattered three hits over four innings, striking out six to earn the win.

Game Two: Franklin 14 – MSJ 3
The Grizzlies jumped on Mount pitching early in the night cap, with Lipscomb knocking in a run a Jake Bryant brining home two in the top of the second. Sullivan added a run-scoring single in the third to spot Franklin a 4-0 lead.

The Lions cut the deficit to three in the fourth but Franklin would put the game out of reach over a two-inning stretch with three in the fifth and five in the sixth. Just for good measure, the Grizzlies added two more in their half of the ninth inning, capping a game that saw the FC offense bang out 13 hits.

Wright was a monster at the plate in game two, scoring three times and driving in five runs that included his second home run of the year. Bryant, Sullivan and Demkovich all knocked in a pair of runs with Demkovich and Bryant leading the team with three hits each.

Mitch Merica (2-0) allowed two earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. Nick Elmendorf, Bryce Pause and Tyler Robinson combined to allow just two hits over the final 3 1/3 innings in relief.

Franklin is off until next Saturday (Mar. 27) when they host the Earlham Quakers for two games at McDowell Field. First pitch is set for noon.