INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Franklin College baseball team made an emphatic statement in their conference openers on Saturday (Apr. 2) afternoon, sweeping the Bluffton Beavers for the first time since 2008.

Senior catcher Logan Demkovich clubbed four home runs to lead a Grizzly (17-5, 2-0 HCAC) offense that punished Bluffton (6-11, 0-2 HCAC) pitching for 36 hits on the afternoon. The Grizzlies took game one 16-4 before closing out the day with a 13-3 win in the nightcap.

Game One: Franklin 16 – Bluffton 4
AJ Sanders got the party going with a lead-off home run in the first but the Beavers responded with five singles in the second that led to a pair of runs and a 2-1 Bluffton lead. Sanders put the Grizzlies in front for good with a two-run double in the second, starting a stretch of 15 unanswered runs from the Grizzlies that led to an easy win.

Sanders, Demkovich and Matthew Earley all had three hits and Andrew Wallace scored three times. Demkovich smacked his first dinger of the day with a two-run shot in the fifth inning.

Nick McClanahan (3-0)  got more than enough run support, picking up his third win of the year after allowing two runs on seven hits with no walks and four strikeouts over five innings. Nick Elmendorf, Lukas Kline and Sam Peck combined to allow one hit in four innings of relief.

Game Two: Franklin 13 – Bluffton 3
Demkovich got the scoring started with a two-out solo home run in the first and added a pair of two-run homers in the fourth and sixth innings, respectively. Demkovich became the fifth Grizzly in program history to hit three home runs in a game and the first since Ryan Bixler in 2019.

Franklin put the game out of reach with a five-run sixth inning with the Grizzly pitching staff holding Bluffton to just two extra base hits in the game.

Earley joined the long ball party, smacking his fourth of the year in the eighth. Six Grizzlies recorded multiple hits in game two in support of starter Jackson Young (4-1), who allowed three runs over six innings of work. Chris Foote, Mitch Merica and Tyler Wick worked the final three innings, conceding just one hit.

Up Next
Franklin continues conference play on Tuesday (Apr. 5) with a pair of games against the Anderson Ravens at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.