FRANKLIN – The Franklin baseball team put their power on display on Saturday (Apr. 29) in an afternoon sweep of the Bluffton Beavers.
Franklin (26-8, 14-2 HCAC) clubbed nine home runs on the afternoon, with six coming in game one as part of an 18-8 win in eight innings. Game two saw the Grizzlies jump out to an early lead before weather intervened and gave Franklin a 10-5 win in in an eight-inning affair.
Game One: Franklin 18 – Bluffton 8 (8 inn.)
The ball was flying out of McDowell Field early on, with
Sean Sullivan clubbing a two-run blast in the first and
Garrett DeHart and
AJ Sanders belting solo shots in the second to put the hosts up 4-0. Bluffton plated six runs in their half of the third but the Griz got the runs back and then some in the bottom of the inning with a two-run blast from
Jonathan LaGuire-Cruz tying the game and Sanders driving in three with a double to make it 9-6.
Sullivan and
Noah Wood each homered in the fourth to add to the lead and Sanders and Sullivan each knocked in runs with singles in the fifth to make it 14-6. Franklin brought the opener to a close in the eighth with
Colby Reed, Sanders and Sullivan all connecting on RBI base hits to trigger the run rule.
Sanders had a monster game at the plate, going 5-for-6 with seven RBI and four runs scored. One spot behind him in the order, Sullivan went 4-for-5 with five knocked in.
Matthew Johnson (5-1) went five innings to pick up the win, scattering six hits and striking out five.
Game Two: Franklin 10 – Bluffton 5 (8 inn.)
Matt Earley opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the first and the Griz doubled their lead in the second with back-to-back RBI singles from Sanders and Sullivan. Sanders knocked in another run with a single in the fourth and
Anthony Smith made it 7-0 in the fifth with a two-run shot and the first home run of his career.
After a lengthy lightning delay in the fifth,
Colby Reed stretched the lead to eight with a solo home run after the break. The Beavers got back in the game with a five-run seventh inning but Sanders stretched the lead back to five with a two-run single in the seventh. With one out in the eighth, the skies opened up and the officiating crew called the game due to weather.
Sanders and Sullivan each went 3-for-5 at the dish and six players finished the game with multiple hits.
Jackson Young (7-0) got the start and fanned five batters over seven innings of work.
Up Next
Franklin continued their busy weekend on Sunday (Apr. 30) with two road games against the Manchester Spartans. First pitch is set for noon.
