FRANKLIN – The Franklin softball team hosted the Eureka Red Devils on Sunday (Mar. 26) afternoon in the final non-conference home contests of the season for the Grizzlies.
Franklin (14-4) continued their dominance at home, moving to 9-1 at Behrens Field with a sweep of the Red Devils (1-8). The Grizzlies battled to take game one 4-1 and rolled to an 11-0 win in game two that ended in five innings.
Game One: Franklin 4 – Eureka 1
Franklin took the lead two batters into their first trip to the plate, with
Sydney Rodeghier belting a leadoff double and coming home on a single from
Eriana Wagner. That score held until the bottom of the fourth when
Molly Wallace brought home a second run with a sac fly. Franklin doubled their lead in the fifth, pulling off a double steal to score
Shelby Crockett from third and
Sydney Bostic doubling home a run to cap the scoring.
The Red Devils got their run in the top of the sixth but left two runners in scoring position when the inning ended.
Sydney Pitts (5-2) allowed the one unearned run on eight hits with no walks and three strikeouts, forcing 14 ground ball outs on the afternoon.
Rodeghier, Bostic,
Genesis Munoz and Annie Kleumper all had two hits each and Rodeghier scored twice from the top of the Franklin order.
Game Two: Franklin 11 – Eureka 0 (5 inn.)
Just like game one, the Grizzlies jumped in front two batters in with Rodeghier singling to lead things off and Wagner driving her home with a double. That was the start of a six-run first for the Grizzlies that saw Munoz knock in two with a double, Crockett and
Ravyn McClaren knocking in runs and Wallace scoring on a botched return throw to the pitcher.
The Griz got the rest of their offense in the fifth with Wallace knocking in another run with a fielder's choice, a three-run double from
Catie Moore and an RBI double from
Brooke Lipperd. That capped a well-rounded performance from the Griz offense, as they had eight different players record a hit and nine different players score a run.
Stephanni Kleber (6-2) was the recipient of a strong offensive showing, getting the win after scattering four hits over 4.1 innings.
Kylie Kadel took over in relief for the final 2/3 of the fifth, allowing one hit.
Franklin hits the road on Thursday (Mar. 30) for the final tune-up ahead of conference play. The Griz head to Michigan for two games with Hope College, starting at 3:30 p.m.
