GREENVILLE, Ill. – The Franklin softball team grinded out two big road wins on Thursday (Apr. 6) afternoon, sweeping a non-conference twin bill with Greenville University.
Franklin (17-7) came from behind to win both contests, ripping off a five-run inning in each contest to take wins over the Panthers (9-8) by scores of 6-2 and 5-4.
Game One: Franklin 6 – Greenville 2
The Grizzlies grabbed a lead in the first thanks to a sac fly from
Genesis Munoz but the Griz gave two runs back in the bottom of the inning as the Panthers took their first lead of the day. The Grizzlies left two runners on in both the third and fourth frames and headed into their final at-bat still facing a one-run deficit.
Hadley Fuhrman opened the inning by reaching on an error and the Griz were off, as
Sydney Rodeghier and
Annie Kluemper followed with singles to load the bases.
Sydney Bostic knotted the game up by drawing a bases loaded walk and two batters later, Munoz clubbed the second grand slam of her career to put Franklin back in front.
Sydney Pitts (6-4) shut the Panthers down in order in the seventh to earn the win as she scatterd nine hits and struck out three in a complete game effort. Kluemper went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Munoz and
Molly Wallace had two hits each.
Game Two: Franklin 5 – Greenville 4
Facing a two-run deficit though three innings, the Grizzlies put up another five-spot on the Panthers in the top of the fourth. Wallace,
Stephanni Kleber and
Kennedy Bond notched consecutive RBI hits to put the Grizzlies in front. Fuhrman plated an run with a ground out and Rodeghier capped the scoring with a two-out single.
The lead held until the bottom of the seventh when a two-out, two-run single got the Panthers within a run. But Kleber induced a ground out from the next batter to seal the win.
Kleber (8-3) walked one and struck out three in a complete game effort. Seven different Grizzlies recorded a hit in the game and five different players all scored runs.
Franklin jumps back into conference play on Saturday (Apr. 8) afternoon, hosting the Anderson Raves for two games at Berens Field. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.
