Another foot to the right, and Franklin baseball might well be talking about a comeback win for the ages. Unfortunately for the Grizzlies, their late wave of momentum was stopped cold by a third baseman's glove.
The Griz rallied from eight runs back and had the go-ahead run on base in the bottom of the seventh inning, but visiting DePauw made the big plays down the stretch to snuff out the Franklin comeback bid and pull away for a 17-9 win at McDowell Field on Sunday afternoon.
Franklin (14-14) trailed 9-1 before scoring three runs in the fourth inning.
Noah Loveall led off the frame with a pinch-hit homer to left field,
Josh Girvan singled to drive in a run and
Nic Deering scored from third when a stolen base by Girvan — the 60th of his career, making him the school's all-time leader in that category — drew a throw.
The sixth inning brought three more runs, as
Jaxon Henke blasted a two-run homer to prompt a pitching change and Deering greeted the DePauw reliever with a solo shot to left center, making it a 9-7 game.
Then, the Grizzlies had a golden opportunity in the seventh. Back-to-back singles by
Drew Helton and
Dyllan Redmon started the inning, and
Zander Cobb was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out.
Gavin Fields then roped a hard liner just inside the third-base line that came inches away from giving Franklin the lead — but the ball found the third baseman's glove and Helton was doubled off of third base to end the threat.
The Tigers scored two runs in the eighth inning and six more in the ninth to put the game away before Cobb hit a solo homer to cap the Griz scoring.
Michael Carter had thrown a career-high four innings of relief to give the Grizzlies a chance, allowing one earned run on three hits while striking out five.
Girvan and Deering each had three of Franklin's 15 hits, while
Garrett DeHart, Helton and Cobb had two apiece. Helton has hit safely in all 25 games he has played this season, the longest Grizzly hitting streak since 2019.
Franklin is back on its home field Tuesday afternoon (4 p.m.) against Webster.