FRANKLIN – The Franklin softball team wrapped up a busy weekend of competition on Sunday (Apr. 13) afternoon with two conference games against the Manchester Spartans.
The Grizzlies (11-8, 1-5 HCAC) bounced back from dropping game one 12-10 with an emphatic 8-0 win in game two, earning a split with the Spartans (12-8, 3-3 HCAC). Franklin's offense pounded out 30 hits over the two matchups, with junior
Kaylee Stewart's seven leading all players.
Game One: Manchester 12 – Franklin 10
The Grizzlies got on the board first, with
Olivia Staigl knocking in
Kaylee Stewart with a single in the bottom of the first. After the Spartans put up four in the second, Franklin answered with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning with Staigl, Stewart and
Zoey Kugelman all diring in runs to make it 5-4 Franklin.
Manchester brought two runs across in the fourth but Franklin matched that output in the bottom of the fourth, getting an RBI single from
Eriana Wagner and an RBI double from
Ruth Kaiser to make it 7-6 Franklin. Stewart added an RBI single in the fifth and the Grizzlies held a 8-6 lead with two frames to play.
But Manchester answered with two in the sixth to tie and four in the seventh to take the lead. The Grizzlies got two runs back in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI ground out from Kaiser and an RBI single from
Molly Wallace, but Franklin would leave the tying run on the base paths to close the game.
Stewart and Staigl each went 4-for-5 at the plate, with Stewart scoring four times and Staigl leading the Grizzlies with three RBI.
Game Two: Franklin 8 – Manchester 0 (6 inn.)
Kaiser broke open the scoring in game two, singling home Wagner in the bottom of the third for the opening run.
Kendall Lowry made it a 2-0 game later in the inning with a sac fly and the Grizzlies stretched their lead to 3-0 in the fourth when Stewart came in to score on an error.
Lowry plated another run in the fifth with an RBI single and the Grizzlies brought the game to an end with a four-run sixth inning that saw Staigl, Kaiser, Kugelman and
Hadley Fuhrman all knock in runs.
Kugelman (4-3) tossed another gem in the circle, scattering four hits and striking out one over six innings for the first shutout of her career. Stewart and Lowry had three hits each, with seven of Franklin's starting nine combining for 13 hits in the night cap.
Up Next
The Grizzlies are back at home on Wednesday (Apr. 16) afternoon for two games against the Rose-Hulman Engineers. First pitch from Behrens Field is set for 3:30 p.m.