KOKOMO, Ind. – The Franklin baseball team will play for a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Tournament Championship after a thrilling 7-3 win over the Transylvania Pioneers on Friday (May 12) afternoon.
 
The top-seeded Grizzlies (32-10) got a stellar pitching performance from senior Jackson Young and three RBI from day one hero Luke Willmann to best the second-seeded Pioneers (24-18) and move into Saturday's championship-clinching scenario.
 
Franklin struck first with a run in the bottom of the second when Willmann drew a bases loaded walk but the Pioneers took advantage of a throwing error in the top of the third to take a 2-1 lead. Both starting pitchers stayed in control until the bottom of the fifth when the Grizzlies turned the tide and took the lead for good.
 
Willmann roped an RBI double into left that scored Dyllan Redmon to tie the game and came home two batters later on an RBI double from Sean Sullivan. Tysen Lipscomb added to the lead with an RBI ground out to put the Griz on top 4-2 with four innings to go.
 
The Pioneers got a run back in the sixth and nearly tied the game, but a runner interference call on a double play attempt wiped out the tying run and kept it a 4-3 game. Jonathon LaGuire-Cruz extended the lead to a pair in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI double and Franklin added two more in the seventh on another bases loaded walk to Willmann and a wild pitch that allowed LaGuire-Cruz to score.
 
That proved to be more than enough insurance for Young, who faced the minimum over the final two innings to move to 8-0 on the year. The Greenwood, Ind.-native allowed one earned run on six hits with one walk and eight strikeouts, earning the complete game on 116 pitches.
 
The win moves Franklin into a championship-clinching scenario on Saturday (May 13). The Grizzlies will play either Transylvania, Rose-Hulman or Anderson needing one win to clinch the tournament championship.
 
First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.