RICHMOND, Ind. – The Earlham College baseball team split a doubleheader with Franklin College on Saturday afternoon in Sadler Stadium.
The Quakers improved to 20-16 (10-10 HCAC) on the season.
GAME ONE: Earlham 3 Franklin 2 (10 Innings)
Dillon Fischer started game one and pitched eight innings with four hits and two runs allowed, while garnering 10 strikeouts.
Justin Dillhoff and
Matt Morris each pitched one inning in relief, with one hit allowed each.
Michael Medley led the Quakers in RBI with two after a two-run homer over the Maroon Monster. Medley scored two hits on the day.
After both teams were held scoreless in the opening four frames, Medley gave EC a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth with his shot over the monster in left field.
Franklin shortstop Garrett Dehart hit an RBI double in the top of the sixth inning, and repeated in the top of the eighth inning to tie the game at 2-2.
After keeping a clean sheet in the ninth and tenth innings,
Max Stewart hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the tenth for Earlham. The Quakers put
Jonathan Jimenez on first as a pinch runner, and the speedy freshman stole second base.
Christian Lancianese then hit a sacrifice bunt to move Jimenez to third base with one out.
Franklin then chose to intentionally walk
Nathan Lancianese and
Max Fries to have a force out opportunity all around the bases, but Mitchel Roether earned a walk for the walk-off RBI.
GAME TWO: Earlham 8 Franklin 11
David Lally started on the mound in game two with three innings pitched. The sophomore allowed one earned run with no hits and one strikeout.
Medley had a hot bat in game two with a team-high three hits and two RBI.
The Quakers were looking good in the bottom of the first inning with two back-to-back home runs from
Nathan Lancianese and
Max Fries.
Franklin then erased the advantage with four runs scored in the top of the fourth inning.
Earlham tied it back up at four with an RBI hit from
Zach Swearingen in the bottom of the fourth frame.
A home run and an RBI-double gave the visitors two runs in the top of the fifth inning, but a homer from Roether followed by an RBI single from Medley gave Earlham a 7-6 lead.
Franklin added four runs in the top of the seventh inning to take an insurmountable lead over EC.
The Quakers will conclude their season tomorrow at Transylvania University with a doubleheader beginning at 1 pm. The Quakers are currently the sixth and final team qualified for the HCAC tournament with a tiebreaker over Anderson University. The Quakers will lock themselves into the tournament with a sweep over the Pioneers tomorrow, or can still advance with a win and some help.
