When Franklin baseball needed a lights-out performance on the mound, Luke Harmon delivered.

The Grizzlies had gotten roughed up a bit during the front end of Friday's doubleheader at Center Grove High School, taking a 12-9 loss against Carroll, but Harmon quieted the visiting bats in the nightcap. The junior allowed just three hits over seven strong innings, paving the way for a 9-3 victory.

"Luke Harmon stepped up and gave us a great start," Griz coach Lance Marshall said. "Just what we needed after a tough first game; I'm really proud of his performance. Offensively, we got a lead and hung onto it, and then extended the lead finally. The guys really executed some things we asked them to do."

Franklin (5-3) gave Harmon an early lead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Drew Helton delivered a base hit up the middle to score leadoff man Josh Girvan, and Dyllan Redmon came home one batter later on a sacrifice fly by Davis Wagner. 

Carroll got its lone run off Harmon (2-1) on a solo homer in the second, but scarcely touched him again. Harmon yielded just two more hits and a walk while striking out six.

Meanwhile, the Griz offense came alive with a six-spot in the sixth. Nic Deering scored on the throw as Brady Redman stole second base, making it 3-1. Girvan's bases-loaded single scored Redman, three runs scored on an outfield error and Wagner plated Helton with an RBI single.

Deering tacked on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, while the Pioneers managed single runs in each of the last two frames.

Helton, Wagner, Garrett DeHart and Zander Cobb had two hits apiece in the win.

In the opener, the Pioneers jumped on top with one run in the top of the first and five more in the second before Franklin countered with a four-run second. Noah Loveall continued his dominance of the Center Grove diamond with a three-run homer, and Girvan scored on a DeHart sac fly. 

The Grizzlies scored four more in the sixth to tie it at 8-8. Wagner delivered three of those with a blast to left center field, and Loveall later brought Redmon home with a sacrifice fly.

After the Pioneers got two runs in the seventh, Redmon again scored on a Redman single in the eighth to make it a one-run game, but Carroll put it away with another pair in the ninth.

Starter Chase Wagner (1-1) took the loss for the Grizzlies, who got two hits each from Girvan, Helton, Davis Wagner and Nolan McLane.

Marshall lamented a potential sweep that got away but was happy with how his team recovered. The Grizzlies get a day off before playing a Sunday afternoon game against Alma, this one at Indian Creek High School.

"We've just got to keep playing, keep getting better every day," Marshall said.