HANOVER, Ind. – The Franklin College baseball team opened their final series of the regular season on Friday (May 7) afternoon with the first of three straight matchups against the Hanover Panthers.

Logan Demkovich recorded his first career two-homer game and Jacob Heuchan belted his first career round-tripper for the Grizzlies (21-12), but a six-run seventh inning from the Panthers (20-16) proved too much to overcome late as Hanover took the opener 9-6.

Franklin came out swinging with a four-run first inning. Tysen Lipscomb knocked in a run with a two-out double and Heuchan added to the lead later in the inning when he drove a pitch over the left field wall for a three-run shot and a 4-0 Franklin lead.

Demkovich smacked the first pitch of the third inning over the wall for his seventh home run of the year and he launched another solo blast in the eighth. But the Grizzlies would struggle to string together hits the rest of the game and the Panthers pounced with a six-run seventh that turned a 5-3 FC lead into a 9-5 Hanover advantage.

Mitch Merica (3-4) got the start and pitched well through six innings before running into trouble in the seventh. Jackson Young fanned five over the final two innings in relief. Demkovich finished the game with three hits and three runs scored.

The two rivals will be back at it on Saturday (May 8) with two games on tap at K.T. Young Ballpark. First pitch of game one is set for 1:00 p.m.