Despite a relatively inexperienced roster, Franklin baseball coach Lance Marshall certainly didn't shy away from challenges with his early-season schedule.

The Grizzlies faced the first of many tough challenges in Friday's season opener, battling a Chicago squad sitting just outside the top 25 of the D3baseball.com preseason poll. Franklin jumped on top with a six-run second inning and pulled even at 9-9 in the top of the fifth before ultimately falling short in a 15-9 battle at the Rhodes Classic in Memphis, Tennessee.

Marshall pointed out that the Maroons returned nearly everyone from a team that reached the NCAA regional championship game last spring.

"We can hang with them, we will be okay," he said. "We are so young, but talented."

After surrendering three runs in the first, the Grizzlies got on the board in the second with five walks, including free passes to Nic Deering and Dyllan Redmon with the bases loaded. With the bags still juiced, Garrett DeHart doubled to center field to bring Alex Billman, Deering and Redmon home and make it 5-3. DeHart later scored on a two-out single to right by Davis Wagner.

Chicago got two runs back in the bottom of the second and tacked on four in the fourth to pull ahead, 9-6, but Billman hit a game-tying three-run home run in the top of the fifth.

The Maroons ultimately got the last word offensively, scoring three runs in the fifth inning, two in the sixth and one in the seventh. Meanwhile, their bullpen shut the game down, holding the Grizzly bats without a hit over the last four innings.

Marshall noted that there are "no moral victories," but he was pleased with the overall effort from a lineup that included four sophomores and three freshmen and said the team would ultimately be better for it.

The difficult February slate continues on Saturday with a 3 p.m. game against the host Lynx. Luke Harmon is scheduled to take the mound for Franklin.