CLAYTON, Ind. – The Franklin College baseball team got a measure of payback on the Wilmington College Quakers on Wednesday (Mar. 16) night, taking a 5-1 win under the lights at Cascade HS for their fifth straight victory.

Freshman Matthew Johnson was dominant on the mound for Franklin (9-3), striking out eight and allowing one unearned run over seven innings of work to earn his first career win. Seniors Chris Foote and Alex Reinoehl each worked a scoreless inning on the mound as the Grizzlies evened up the season series with the Quakers (8-7) in their final meeting of the year.

Franklin got on the board in the bottom of the second thanks to a run-scoring fielder's choice off Peyton Blinn's bat and added to their lead in the third when Matt Earley roped an RBI single up the middle. Wilmington cut the lead in half in the fourth thanks to an error but Franklin plated two runs in the fourth when AJ Sanders ripped a two-run triple to the fence to make it 4-1.

Tysen Lipscomb brought home the final run of the game with an sixth inning sac fly, giving Johnson and the Franklin bullpen more than enough run support to close things out.

Johnson (1-1) and the two Franklin relievers did not allow a runner past second after the Quakers' lone run scored. Sanders and Blinn enjoyed success in their return to their home high school field, with Sanders going 2-for-4 with two RBI and Blinn going 1-for-4 and knocking in the game's first run.

Up next for the Grizzlies is the start of a three-game weekend series with Trine University on Friday (Mar. 18) afternoon. The two teams will play one game at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., with first pitch set for 3:00 p.m.