FRANKLIN – The Franklin College baseball team opened up a busy weekend of conference action on Saturday (Apr. 12) afternoon, hosting the Transylvania Pioneers for two games at John P. McDowell Field.
By the end of the day, freshman
Josh Girvan etched his name in program history as the new single-season stolen bases king. It was the highlight of a split between the two teams, with Franklin (14-13, 6-6 HCAC) taking a 12-2 win in game one and the Pioneers (14-12, 7-4 HCAC) rallying to win game two 8-6.
Game One: Franklin 12 – Transylvania 2 (7 inn.)
Facing a 1-0 deficit in the bottom of the third, the Grizzlies rallied with two outs to take a lead they would keep the rest of the game.
Alex Billman reached on a two-out error and the Grizzlies made the Pioneers pay, with Billman scoring later on a wild pitch and
Dyllan Redmon knocking in two with a single to make it a 3-1 game.
One inning later, the Grizzlies put up a touchdown on the Pioneers to put the game out of reach.
Nic Deering and
Ian Nuckles both knocked in two with base hits while
Luke Willmann,
Garrett DeHart and
Andrew Wallace all added RBIs to make it a 10-1 game.
Deering brought the game to close in the bottom of the seventh, doubling to the wall in left field and scoring Billman and
Kam Seitz to trigger the run rule.
Deering made the most of his first career start in the leadoff spot, going 4-for-5 with four RBI, two runs scored and two stolen bases.
Matthew Johnson (3-2) turned in a strong, giving up two earned runs on nine hits with three walks and nine strikeouts for the third complete game of his career.
Game Two: Transylvania 8 – Franklin 6
Franklin kicked off game two with a three-run first inning, getting a two-run double from DeHart and a sac fly from Wallace to open the scoring. Girvan reached in each of his first three trips to the plate and swiped a bag each time, the final one giving him the new single-season record of 28 steals and breaking
AJ Sanders' previous record that he set back in 2022.
With the Pioneers holding a 5-4 lead in the fifth, Franklin jumped back in front with DeHart and Nuckles recording RBI singles in the inning to make it a 6-5 game. That score stood until the ninth, when the Pioneers pounced for three runs in the top of the inning and they kept the winning run off the board in the bottom of the ninth.
Girvan and DeHart both went 3-for-5 at the plate to lead the offense. Girvan and
Dyllan Redmon each scored twice and DeHart drove in a team-high three runs.
Cameron Manuel got the start and fanned four over 4.2 innings of work.
Will Butts (4-1) struck out three over 3.1 innings in relief.
Up Next
The Grizzlies won't have time to rest, as they travel to Terre Haute, Ind. on Sunday (Apr. 13) for two games with the Rose-Hulman Engineers. First pitch of game one is set for noon.
