FRANKLIN - The Franklin College baseball team took to their home field for the final time in the regular season on Saturday (Apr. 3) morning, closing out a three-game set with the Berea Mountaineers on Senior Day at John P. McDowell Field.

Senior pitcher Will Butts became the program's single-season leader in appearances, making his 24th trip to the mound from the bullpen this season. But the regular season was spoiled by the Mountaineers (9-29, 3-19 HCAC), as they bested Franklin (21-18, 12-10 HCAC) by a 12-8 score. 

Down by three before they came to bat, Franklin got all those runs back plus some in the bottom of the first. Andrew Wallace and Riddick Bolton produced RBI singles while Garrett DeHart swiped home on a designed double steal and Nic Deering scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-3 Grizzlies after an inning. Deering led off the bottom of the second and teed off for a solo home run, the first of his career to stretch Franklin's lead to a pair. 

Berea took the lead back with a run in the third and two in the fourth, but the Mountaineers gave two runs back on defense with a throwing error that allowed two runs to score in the fourth and put Franklin back in front, 7-6. Brady Bishop broke a tie in the bottom of the fifth with a squeeze bunt to make it 8-7 Grizzlies, but Franklin couldn't generate any more runs and the Mountaineers scored in each of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to pull away. 

Wallace and Riddick Bolton had three hits each to lead the Franklin offense. Deering, DeHart and Dyllan Redmon each scored a pair of runs on the afternoon. 

Luke Harmon got the start and fanned three batters over three innings of work. Gavin Leavy, Brayden Marrow (0-3), Butts and Damian Tillie all logged time out of the bullpen in relief. 

After the game, the baseball program had the chance to say "thank you" to its six graduating seniors in Butts, Matthew Johnson, Wallace, Noah Bennington, Erik Brandow and Jayden Phillips. 

Up Next
Franklin will head to Kokomo, Ind. next Thursday (May 8) for the 2025 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Baseball Championship. The Grizzlies will learn their opening game opponent and start time in the coming days.