FRANKLIN – The Franklin softball team suited up and took to Behrens Field for the final time in the regular season on Saturday (Apr. 27) afternoon, hosting the Bluffton Beavers on Senior Day.
Junior
Eriana Wagner set the new single-season record for home runs and Franklin (25-9, 14-0 HCAC) kept their hold on first place in the conference with a sweep of the Beavers (6-30, 0-14 HCAC). Franklin took the opener 4-1 before winning game two, 7-2.
It was the perfect send-off for seniors
Shelby Crockett,
Reanne Brinker,
Kennedy Bond,
Genesis Munoz,
Stephanni Kleber and
Skylar Weber, with each making an impact on the field in the final regular season home games of their respective careers.
Game One: Franklin 4 – Bluffton 1
Franklin got the scoring underway in their half of the second thanks to a
Kennedy Bond sac fly, but Bluffton got that run back in the third to even things up. After
Ruth Kaiser led off the Franklin half of the third with a walk,
Molly Wallace doubled to the gap in left center, allowing Kaiser to score from first and put the Griz back in front. Two batters later,
Kendall Lowry doubled to deep center field, scoring Wallace and making it a 3-1 game.
Wagner capped the scoring with a solo home run in the fourth, giving her 12 long balls on the year to match her own single season program record.
All of that was plenty of run support for
Lauren Duncan (12-4), as she worked around eight Bluffton hits to go the distance with one walk and one strikeout. Wallace went 3-for-3 at the plate with Wagner, Lowry and Crockett all chipping in with two hits each.
Game Two: Franklin 7 – Bluffton 2
Kleber broke the game open with a two-run double in the second and Crockett plated two with a double in the third to make it 4-0 Franklin. With one out in the fourth, Wagner stepped to the plate and made history, as she crushed an 0-1 pitch well over the center field wall for her 13
th long ball of the year and second of the day.
Wallace singled to left to drive in two more runs in the fifth to cap the scoring and turn the attention to Kleber, who was brilliant in the circle and worked a perfect 5.1 innings to open the game before the Beavers broke up the bid for perfection in the sixth. Kleber moved to 8-4 on the year with a complete game effort, giving up one earned run on two hits with one walk and two strikeouts.
Up Next
Franklin hits the road on Wednesday (May 1) for their two biggest games of the season, heading to Lexington, Ky. for a double-header with #25 Transylvania. The two teams sit 1-2 in conference play, with the Grizzlies one game ahead of the nationally-ranked Pioneers.
First pitch of game one is set for 3:30 p.m.
