DAYTON, Ohio – The Franklin baseball team scored 13 unanswered runs to claim a signature win on Thursday (Apr. 20) night with a 13-3 drubbing in eight innings of #9/14-ranked Denison University.
 
Franklin (22-7) swatted three home runs and held the Big Red (23-7) to just four hits on a beautiful evening at Wright State's Nischwitz Field.
 
The Big Red jumped on Franklin starter Gavin White for three runs in the first but Franklin's pitching threw up seven straight zeroes the rest of the night. Franklin cut into the Denison lead in the bottom of the first when Sean Sullivan belted a one-out solo home run and the Griz took the lead for good in the third thanks to a lead-off homer from AJ Sanders, a two-run shot from Matt Earley and an RBI single from Jonathan LaGuire that made it 5-3.
 
The Grizzlies padded their lead with an RBI single from Tysen Lipscomb in the fourth and Sanders dealt the Big Red a fatal blow with a two-out, three-run double in the bottom of the fifth that stretched the lead to 9-3.
 
Three straight bases loaded free passes led to three more Franklin runs in the sixth and Dyllan Redmon closed out the game with an RBI triple in the eighth that triggered the mercy rule.
 
Sanders and Lipscomb each went 3-for-5 at the plate with Sanders knocking in four runs to lead all Franklin players. But the story of the night was the Grizzly pitching staff that held a Denison offense that averaged 11 hits per game entering the night to just four base knocks.
 
White made his first start on the mound since Mar. 7, 2020 and gave up three runs and two hits over three innings of work. Reed Shaffer (1-1) earned the first win of his career with two innings of work in relief. Dylan Sprong fanned four in two innings of work and Aidan Ray struck out one in his lone frame on the hill.
 
Franklin resumes conference play on Saturday (Apr. 22) afternoon when they open a three-game weekend series with Rose-Hulman. Game one at John P. McDowell Field is set for noon.