FRANKLIN – The Franklin College baseball team kicked off their final series of the regular season on Friday (May 2) afternoon with two games against the Berea Mountaineers.
The Grizzlies (21-17, 12-9 HCAC) got a pair of solid starts from
Matthew Johnson and Cam Manuel to secure a series win over the Mountaineers (8-29, 2-19 HCAC) with wins by scores of 12-2 and 2-1.
Game One: Franklin 12 – Berea 2 (7 inn.)
The Grizzlies got the early jump with a three-run second inning, getting an RBI single from
Alex Billman, a sac fly from
Colin Goley and Luke Willman swiping home for a 3-0 Griz lead. Berea cut into the lead with two runs in the third but Goley restored the multi-run lead with an RBI single in the fourth, making it a 4-2 game.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Grizzlies broke open the floodgates with a six-run inning that put the game out of reach.
Andrew Wallace crushed a two-run shot to start the rally and
Brady Bishop delivered the big blow in the inning with a three-run shot, his first career home run for a 10-2 Franklin lead.
One inning later, Franklin brought the game to a close with an RBI single from
Ian Nuckles and a game-ending squeeze bunt from Billman that scored Nuckles from third.
Nuckles went 4-for-4 with four runs scored and Wallace went 3-for-4 while crossing the plate three times.
Matthew Johnson (4-2) was brilliant over six innings of work, giving up two unearned runs on four hits with a season-high 10 strikeouts. The Griffith, Ind.-native moved within 10 punch outs of matching tying Andy Clark's career record of 269 Ks.
Game Two: Franklin 2 – Berea 1
The Mountaineers claimed their first lead of the day with a run in the top of the first, but Manuel would shut the Mountaineers down for the rest of his outing. But the freshman hurler needed some help and he got it in the bottom of the third when
Dyllan Redmon crushed a solo home run to tie the game. One inning later, the Grizzlies took the lead with Billman bringing home Nuckles with another squeeze bunt.
Manuel (5-0) was lights out over 7.1 innings of work, scattering six hits and striking out a career-high seven batters.
Will Butts nailed down the final five outs for his second save of the season and in doing so, matched the single-season record for pitching appearances with 23.
Up Next
The Grizzlies close the regular season out with game three of the series with Berea on Saturday (May 3) morning. Due to rain in the forecast in the afternoon, first pitch has been moved up to a 10:00 a.m.
