RICHMOND, Ind. – A busy weekend on the diamond began for the Franklin baseball team on Saturday (May 1) afternoon, with the Grizzlies taking on the Earlham Quakers.

The two teams had some business to attend to before their scheduled double-header and complete a suspended game from Mar. 27. For the second game in a row, Nick Wright proved to be the hero, delivering a walk-off single in the 12th in a 9-8 Franklin (18-10) win.

Game one of the scheduled twin bill saw the Quakers (18-15) power their way to a 12-8 win. Game two was headed the way of another slugfest, but senior Alex Reinoehl proved to be the stopper the Grizzly pitching staff needed in a 10-7 Franklin win.

Game One: Earlham 12 – Franklin 8
The Grizzlies sprinted out to an early lead, getting a run in the first on a Wright RBI single and three more in the second with an error and two-run double from Quenton Wellington leading to a 4-0 Franklin lead. Earlham took advantage of two Franklin errors in the bottom of the second to plate four unearned runs and took the lead with another unearned run in the third.

Ryan Bixler smacked a two-run blast in the top of the fourth to give the Grizzlies a 6-5 lead, but another four-run frame from the Quakers followed in the bottom of the inning. Wright belted a two-run shot in the top of the eighth to get the Grizzlies within three, but no late game rally was in the cards.

Mitch Merica (3-3) allowed just two earned runs over four innings with a career-high seven strikeouts. Wellington, Wright and Tysen Lipscomb all had three hits in the opener.

Game Two: Franklin 10 – Earlham 7
Down by three after an inning, the Grizzlies charged back in the second with a lead-off home run from Logan Demkovich and RBIs from Jake Bryant and Case Starkey to tie the game. An inning later, Wright doubled home Ryan Bixler and Jacob Heuchan brought home a pair later in the frame with a double to make it 6-3 Franklin.

A bases loaded walk from Demkovich made it a 7-4 game after 3 ½ innings but Earlham answered with a two-run bottom of the inning to cut the lead to one.

With the tying run on in the bottom of the fifth, Reinoehl entered out of the bullpen and dominated over the final 4 2/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits with four strikeouts and no walks to improve to 5-2 on the year. He got some insurance in the form of a three-run eighth with Wright, Demkovich and Lipscomb all knocking in runs in succession.

Tyler Wick got the start and allowed five earned runs over 4 1/3 innings with three strikeouts. Bixler and Adam Hedinger each had three hits with Demkovich knocking in three runs.

Up Next
Franklin hosts the Bluffton Beavers on Sunday at McDowell Field for senior day, with all 14 members of the senior class set to be honored before game one. First pitch is set for 1 PM.