Having dropped four of its previous five games, Franklin baseball was in need of a win on Tuesday afternoon. The opponent, a regionally ranked Spalding team that reached the NCAA tournament last spring and came in with 18 victories so far this year, was a formidable one.

The Grizzlies were unfazed, riding a milestone day from Josh Girvan and a strong start from Brayton Belcher to a 9-6 triumph at McDowell Field.

"I'm really proud of the guys," Franklin coach Lance Marshall said. "They bounced back; it was a tough loss yesterday (at Manchester), and they showed some guts to come back and win this one."

Belcher came out strong, striking out five and picking off a baserunner over the first two innings and not allowing a hit until an infield single in the fourth. He ran into a little bit of trouble in the fifth inning, allowing an unearned run that tied the game at 1-1, before reliever (and winning pitcher) Aidan Ray came on and induced an inning-ending double play. Belcher yielded just two hits and three walks in his 4.1 frames, striking out six.

The Grizzlies took the lead for good with six runs in the bottom of the fifth. Dyllan Redmon got things started with an RBI bunt single that scored Drew Helton, who had led off with a double. After Nic Deering drew a bases-loaded walk to push another run across, Girvan knocked in a pair with a base hit into center field.

Girvan and Deering then pulled off a double steal — the 59th stolen base of Girvan's career, tying the sophomore with Scott Windler for the school's career record. Both then scored on a Spalding error on the infield, stretching the Griz lead to 7-1.

After the Golden Eagles scored two runs in the sixth and one in the seventh to cut the margin in half, Franklin grew the lead back to 9-4 in the bottom of the seventh when Davis Wagner drove a two-run single to left field.

Wagner then came on to pitch the last two innings, including a 1-2-3 ninth, for his third save of the year.

Girvan, who also had an RBI single in the third for the first run of the game, had three RBIs and joined Helton, Wagner, Deering and Zander Cobb with two hits apiece. Cobb and Deering each scored twice.

Franklin (14-11) returns to conference play with a doubleheader at Anderson on Saturday.