FRANKLIN – For the first time in more than a month, the Franklin softball team stepped onto the Behrens Field turf for a double-header, hosting the Spalding Golden Eagles for a pair of non-conference contests.
The Grizzlies (10-5) cruised to a 6-0 win in game one completed the sweep of Spalding (4-14) with a 6-5 walk-off win in game two.
Game One: Franklin 6 – Spalding 0
With the game still scoreless through two innings, Franklin took advantage of two Spalding errors to claim a four-run lead.
Kaylee Stewart reached on an error to lead off the inning and scored one batter later on a fielder's choice.
Kendall Lowry,
Ruth Kaiser and
Brooke Lipperd recorded three consecutive RBI hits later in the inning and the Griz were off and running.
Molly Wallace knocked in her second run of the day with a fielder's choice in the fourth and
Olivia Staigl added the exclamation point by crushing the first Behrens Field home run of her career in the sixth to cap the scoring.
Lauren Duncan (5-3) was brilliant over five innings of shutout ball, scattering five hits and striking out two without walking anyone.
Kylie Kadel logged two scoreless innings in relief, allowing one hit.
Lowry and Lipperd each had two hits to lead the offense, with eight of Franklin's starting nine batters recording at least one hit.
Game Two: Franklin 6 – Spalding 5
Franklin kicked off the scoring in the bottom of the fourth, with
Kaylee Stewart lacing a triple into the right field corner and scoring pinch runner
Ava Kiemeyer.
Hadley Fuhrman added an RBI single later in the inning and the Grizzlies held a 2-0 lead with three innings to play.
But Spalding found a breakthrough in the fifth, plating three runs to take their first lead of the afternoon. Franklin jumped back in front in the sixth, getting one run off of an error and
Belle Neiling putting Franklin in front 4-3 with a sac fly.
For the second time in the game, Spalding had an answer in the form of a multi-run inning, scoring twice in the top of the seventh to take a 5-4 lead. Wallace led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and came in to score the tying run on a Kaiser single three batters later. With two runners on and only one out in the inning, Stewart stepped up and roped a single into center field. Lowry bolted around third and headed for home, using a slick slide at the plate to avoid the tag and score the winning run.
Stewart led the Franklin offense, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI.
Zoey Kugelman got the start and scattered four hits over five innings with five strikeouts.
Kamzi Gross (1-0) earned the first win of her career, tossing two innings of relief.
Up Next
Franklin steps back into conference play on Saturday (Apr. 12), traveling to Cincinnati for a double-header with the Mount St. Joseph Lions. First pitch of game one is set for 1:00 p.m.
