Franklin baseball hadn't swept a doubleheader in nearly four weeks. On Friday afternoon, the Grizzlies decided that the drought had lasted long enough.

Getting perhaps their best all-around effort of the season, the Griz combined solid pitching and their usual long-ball power with a dose of small ball, scoring 8-2 and 15-8 victories over Rose-Hulman at McDowell Field.

The wins were a needed shot in the arm for the Grizzlies (17-14, 6-8 HCAC), who have struggled to find consistency against league foes.

"It was huge for us to get the two wins and get us back where we'd prefer to be in the conference race," Franklin coach Lance Marshall said. "We had clutch hitting, we had clutch pitching and we played good defense. I'm just really happy with the day; the guys played really well."

Game one was all Grizzlies. Drew Helton got things started with an RBI double in the third inning, and Franklin stretched it to 5-0 in the fourth behind run-scoring singles from Alex Billman, Nic Deering, Josh Girvan and Helton. The RBI hits from Deering and Girvan were both bunts.

Billman had another RBI base hit in the fifth inning, Dyllan Redmon hit a solo home run in the sixth and Girvan drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh.

Meanwhile, Griz pitchers Chase Wagner and Luke Harmon were cruising. Wagner scattered eight hits — all singles — across six strong innings, yielding a pair of unearned runs. Harmon worked three shutout frames for the save, allowing just two hits. Each pitcher registered three strikeouts.

Girvan opened the scoring in the nightcap with his first collegiate home run in the first inning, and Redmon added an RBI single in the second. In the third inning, Davis Wagner and Zander Cobb hit consecutive RBI doubles to make it a 4-0 game.

Rose-Hulman got on the board with one run in the top of the fourth, but Franklin roared back with six in the bottom of the frame. After Girvan and Redmon singled to lead off the inning, Helton walked to load the bases for Ian Nuckles, who slugged a 1-1 pitch over the fence in center field for a grand slam. Billman added a two-run double with one out, and the Griz had a comfortable 10-1 advantage.

After the Engineers cut it to 10-6, the home team tacked on four more runs in the seventh inning to rebuild the cushion. Cobb plated Helton with a double and then came home on a three-run homer by Noah Loveall. Redmon capped the scoring with an eighth-inning solo shot.

Southpaw Caden Wilburn got the win on the mound, working five innings and striking out six. 

Billman had five hits and four runs batted in overall for the Grizzlies, who also got four hits each from Girvan, Redmon and Helton. All nine Grizzlies in the order had at least two hits on the afternoon.

The Grizzlies travel to Transylvania on Sunday for what should be a challenging doubleheader, but Marshall isn't placing any limits on his team's capabilities.

"If they play like that," he said after Friday's sweep, "they can play with anybody."