FRANKLIN – Powered by a career afternoon from first baseman
Matt Earley and an overall dominant performance by the Franklin offense, the Grizzlies completed a three-game sweep of the Trine Thunder with two wins on Monday (Mar. 20) afternoon.
Earley slugged four home runs and drove in 10 runs on the day, matching the program record with three long balls in game two. The Grizzlies (9-5) jumped on Thunder (6-8) pitching early in both games, sweeping by scores of 18-8 and 14-1 with both games ending in seven innings.
Game One: Franklin 18 – Trine 8 (7 inn.)
Down by a run after an inning, the Griz bats came alive with a big second frame. The Grizzlies got RBI hits from
Adam Taylor,
AJ Sanders,
Sean Sullivan and
Tysen Lipscomb to make it a 7-1 game. Franklin reached double figures in the fourth with a run scoring on an error and a two-run single from
Jonathan LaGuire to stretch the lead to 10-1.
Earley clubbed his first long ball of the day in the fifth, crushing a two-out grand slam over the left field foul pole. Franklin added four more runs in the sixth to cap the scoring.
Franklin had 16 hits on the afternoon with Lipscomb, LaGuire,
Noah Wood and
Dyllan Redmon recording two hits each. Lipscomb and Taylor both scored three times and Sullivan knocked in three runs.
Matthew Johnson (3-1) earned the win, giving up one hit and striking out three over three innings.
Game Two: Franklin 14 – Trine 1 (7 inn.)
The Grizzlies wasted no time continuing to batter Trine pitching, scoring seven times in the bottom of the first inning. Wood, Taylor, Redmon and Sullivan all plated runs and Earley clubbed his second dinger of the day with a three-run blast in his first trip to the plate. Earley clubbed a solo shot in the second and a massive two-run blast in the sixth to give him three in the game, matching the single-game program record and becoming the seventh Grizzly ever to belt three long balls in one game.
Earley went 4-for-4 with six runs knocked in and four runs scored. Lipscomb and Sullivan both knocked in a pair of runs in support.
On the mound,
Jackson Young (2-0) worked five innings of three-hit ball, striking out one and not walking a batter.
Up Next
Franklin opens up conference play on Saturday (Mar. 25) afternoon, heading to Lexington, Ky. for the start of a three-game set with the Transylvania Pioneers. First pitch of game one is set for noon.