MEMPHIS, Tenn. – There was plenty of drama on tap on opening day for the Franklin baseball team, as the Grizzlies used a late-inning comeback rally to down Rhodes in their 2024 opener on Friday (Feb. 23).
Franklin (1-0) scored eight unanswered runs to close out the game, dealing the Lynx (4-2) a 10-6 loss.
How it Happened
Franklin plated two runs in their first trip to the plate, with
AJ Sanders and
Sean Sullivan both scoring on Rhodes mistakes for an early 2-0 lead. But the Griz bats would go cold over the next five innings, managing just two hits and allowing Rhodes to turn things around and take a 6-2 lead into the seventh inning.
Franklin halved the lead in the top of the seventh, with a pair of two-out Lynx errors leading to two runs and make it a 6-4 game. Another Rhodes error led to Franklin's first run of the eighth to make it a 6-5 game, ahead of
Garrett DeHart's two-run double that gave Franklin the lead back. Sanders gave the Griz some insurance in the top of the ninth, blasting a three-run home run to cap the scoring.
Inside the Box Score
-Sanders and Sullivan finished with two hits each.
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Matthew Johnson got the opening day start, tossing 4.2 innings where he scattered six hits and struck out four.
-Freshman
Luke Harmon (1-0) made quite the impression in his debut, taking over for Johnson and giving up two hits with one walk and three strikeouts over 4.1 innings of scoreless ball.
Up Next
Franklin's opening weekend continues on Saturday (Feb. 24) morning, when they face off with Webster University in Memphis. First pitch is set for 10:30 a.m.
