Franklin baseball took the field Saturday to start a three-game series with an Earlham team that came in tied for first in the HCAC standings.

The Grizzlies opened the doubleheader by handing the Quakers their first conference loss, 11-8, before dropping the finale by a 16-7 score.

Game one saw Franklin (12-8, 3-3) take control early with a two-run single by Dyllan Redmon in the first inning. Redmon then scored on a fourth-inning sacrifice fly by Alex Billman to make it 3-0.

That appeared to be more than enough cushion for Griz starter Chase Wagner, who held Earlham scoreless through the first six innings. By the time the Quakers got to him for three runs in the top of the seventh, Wagner's Franklin teammates had put up four more runs to take a 7-0 lead. RBIs by Davis Wagner, Drew Helton and Nolan McLane highlighted the four-run fifth inning.

The Grizzlies got what proved to be four necessary insurance runs in the eighth inning just before the Quakers came back with four in the ninth. Helton delivered a two-run double and then scored on a two-run single by Redmon.

Chase Wagner struck out six over 6.1 innings, allowing three runs. Davis Wagner had three hits and scored three runs, while Redmon drove in four runs and Helton three.

In the second game, the Grizzlies grabbed a 3-0 advantage in the first inning on RBI doubles by Davis Wagner and Ian Nuckles and a run-scoring groundout by Redmon. Earlham, though, matched those three runs in the top of the second and eventually broke the game open with 10 unanswered runs across the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, building a 14-4 cushion.

Franklin kept the game alive in the bottom of the seventh with a Nuckles sacrifice fly and Kam Seitz RBI single, and Helton tacked on an RBI single in the eighth, but the Grizzlies were unable to get any closer.

Helton led the Griz offense in the nightcap with four hits, including a solo home run in the third inning.

The two teams will return to McDowell Field at noon Sunday for the series rubber match.