WESTFIELD, Ind. – The Franklin College baseball team faced falling temperatures and strong winds on Thursday (Mar. 24) night but were able to pick up a double-header sweep of Trine University at Grand Park.

The opener saw Franklin (12-4) blow things open with a five-run third inning en route to a 12-2 win in eight innings. Game two had the Thunder (5-9) jump out to an early 5-0 lead before the Grizzlies shut them down to take an 11-5 victory.

Game One: Franklin 12 – Trine 2 (8 inn.)
Franklin grabbed the lead with two runs in the first before Trine answered with a pair of runs in their half of the second. After that, it was all Grizzlies as they went on to score the final 10 runs of the game. The third inning saw Sean Sullivan and Adam Taylor rip back-to-back RBI doubles with AJ Sanders and Tysen Lipscomb adding run scoring singles later in the inning.

Matthew Earley smacked a two-run homer in the sixth and Taylor closed out the game in the eighth with his second RBI double of the game. Five different Grizzlies had multiple hits with Sanders' three base knocks leading the offense.

Freshman Matthew Johnson (2-1) turned in his second straight gem on the mound, allowing four hits and striking out six over seven innings of work.

Game Two: Franklin 11 – Trine 5
The Thunder took their first lead of the day with a four-run first and added another in the top of the second to take a 5-1 lead. Colby Reed cut into the lead with a sac fly in the second, but the Grizzlies headed into the fifth facing a 5-2 deficit. Lipscomb changed the momentum of the game with one swing of the bat, smacking a three-run homer over the center field wall to tie the game. Later in the frame, Noah Wood came in to score on a wild pitch to put the Griz in front for good.

Sanders and Lipscomb added to the lead with RBI singles in the sixth and Sanders drove in two more with a single in the seventh to cap the scoring and finish a second straight three-hit game.

Damian Tillie (2-0) got the win on the mound, tossing three innings of one-hit ball with one walk and one strikeout in relief. The quarter to Tillie, Mitch Merica, Chris Foote Nd Alex Reinoehl combined to allow just one run on four hits over eight innings of relief work.

Up Next
The Grizzlies head to Florida for four games over a four day stretch, starting on Sunday (Mar. 27) when they face Williams College. First pitch is set for noon.