INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Franklin College baseball team completed a season-opening sweep of the Albion Britons on Sunday (Feb. 27) with two more wins to close out the opening weekend.

The opener saw the Grizzlies (3-0) get off to a fast start and ride a strong pitching performance from Jackson Young to an 11-6 win. Game two saw the Britons (0-3) take a lead into the back half of the game before Franklin rallied to take the night cap, 11-5.

Game One: Franklin 11 – Albion 6
The Grizzlies used their patience to take the early lead in the opener, drawing four straight walks in the bottom of the inning and getting an RBI single from Matthew Earley to open up a 3-0 lead. The lead stayed at three until the bottom of the fourth, when back-to-back RBI hits from AJ Sanders and Tysen Lipscomb stretched the lead to 5-0.

The Britons got on the board in the fifth but Franklin got the run right back on a run-scoring fielder's choice. Franklin put the game out of reach with one more run in the seventh and four more in the eighth.

Young (1-0) was brilliant in his first career start, allowing one run on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts over six innings of work. Earley went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and Garrett Ramsey smacked his first career home run with a three-run blast in the eighth.

Game Two: Franklin 11 – Albion 5 (8 inn.)
After three scoreless frames, Franklin opened the scoring in their half of the fourth when Andrew Wallace ripped an RBI single to center, scoring Earley. But the Britons answered with four runs in their half of the fifth, chasing Franklin starter Mitch Merica and taking their first lead of the weekend.

Colby Reed and Noah Wood cut into the deficit with RBIs in the bottom of the fifth, but another Albion run in the sixth restored the Britons' lead to a pair. The Franklin half of the sixth would flip momentum, with RBI hits from Reed, Case Starkey and Logan Demkovich putting the home side up 6-5.

Franklin added insurance in each of their final two trips to the plate with three runs in the seventh and two in the eighth. Before the ninth inning, the umpiring crew called the game due to darkness.

Merica went 4.1 innings with seven strikeouts as the starter but it was fellow senior Chris Foote (1-0) that earned his first career win after tossing the sixth inning. Freshman Matthew Johnson worked two spotless innings to earn the save in his first career appearance.

Up Next
Franklin welcomes Hope College to town for three games next weekend. The Grizzlies and Dutch open the series on Friday (Mar. 4) with one game starting at 3:30 p.m.