NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Franklin baseball team continued Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play on Friday and Saturday (Mar. 29-30), taking on the Manchester Spartans in a three-game series.
Franklin (13-7, 4-3 HCAC) earned the series victory, taking game one 8-5 and game three 16-7. The Spartans (8-14, 2-5 HCAC) claimed their only win of the series with a 14-4 win in game two.
Game One: Franklin 8 – Manchester 5
The Grizzlies grabbed the lead for good in the fifth inning, getting RBIs from four different players in the inning to take a 4-1 lead. A two-run homer from
Andrew Wallace stretched the lead to 6-2 in the seventh and after the Spartans got back within a run in the eighth, Franklin got a solo shot from
Sean Sullivan and a run-scoring squeeze from
Adam Taylor to cap the scoring.
AJ Sanders went 4-for-5 from the top of the lineup with Sullivan recording three hits.
Matthew Johnson (3-1) collected the win on the mound, scattering five hits and striking out a season-high 10 batters in a complete game effort.
Game Two: Manchester 14 – Franklin 4
The Grizzlies carried a 3-2 lead into the third inning with Wallace drawing a bases loaded walk in the first and
Tysen Lipscomb driving in two with a double in the second. But the rest of the game went the Spartans' way, as the hosts scored six times in the third and never looked back.
Anthony Smith went 2-for-3 at the plate and Sanders scored twice from the leadoff spot.
Game Three: Franklin 16 – Manchester 7
Sullivan opened the scoring with a two-run double in the first and
Garrett DeHart broke the game open with a three-run homer later in the inning as part of a six-run frame. The Grizzlies got another run in the second and five more runs in the third with a two-run homer from Smith stretching the lead to 12-2 after three innings.
Sullivan paced the offense with a 4-for-5 day at the dish with four RBI and four runs scored. DeHart also drove in four runs and had two hits. Lipscomb had three hits and three runs scored.
Dylan Sprong got the start and went four innings before turning things over to
Luke Harmon, who scattered seven hits over the final five frames.
Up Next
Franklin steps out of conference play on Wednesday (Apr. 3) afternoon, traveling to DePauw for a single contest. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m.