FRANKLIN, Ind. – The Franklin College baseball team wrapped up a lengthy homestand on Saturday (Apr. 10) afternoon with a scheduled double-header against the Manchester Spartans.

The Grizzlies (12-5) and Spartans (9-12) were only able to get one of their two games in due to constant rain throughout the day. In that contest, the Grizzlies clubbed four home runs with two coming in Franklin's final at-bat in a 12-8 win.

Franklin got on the board in their first trip to the dish thanks to a Logan Demkocivh sacrifice fly and tripled their lead an inning later when Ryan Bixler slapped a two-out single to right field, plating two runs and making it a 3-0 game.

The Spartans used a pair of home runs in the third to tie things up, but Franklin would take the lead back in their half of the inning with a sac fly from Tysen Lipscomb and a run-scoring ground out from Sean Sullivan. Nick Wright led off the fifth with a home run and the Spartans answered with a run of their own in the sixth. Franklin would bat in the bottom of the inning before the game was paused for three hours due to rain.

When play resumed, Bixler put Franklin back in front with a one-out solo home run in the seventh. Manchester knotted things up in eighth and with two outs in the bottom of the inning, Franklin turned to the long ball to take the lead for good.

With the bags full and two outs, freshman third baseman Colby Reed stepped up aiming to play the hero. The Bloomington, Ind.-native clubbed a pitch over the wall in left-center field for a grand slam, his first career home run. Bixler followed with his second solo blast of the game and the Grizzlies had more than enough cushion to close out a 5-1 homestand.

Sophomore Tyler Wick got the start and went five innings, striking out four. Alex Reinoehl (3-0) tossed the final three innings to earn the win.

The Grizzlies will hit the road on Sunday (Apr. 11) for a pair of contests with the Defiance Yellow Jackets. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.