Two conference series are in the books for Panther baseball.
After splitting their previous two games with East Henderson, on the week of March 27 Franklin faced their second Mountain Seven foe of the year. In a home-and-away series with conference power Tuscola, Jared Greenwood’s team avenged a Game 1 loss in shutout fashion.
On Tuesday, March 28, the Panthers traveled to Waynesville for their third M7 game of the year. There, they took a 3-0 lead to the middle of the fourth but couldn’t answer a big bottom half of the inning from the Mountaineers.
“8-4 ballgame, they gave us some runs and then we gave them about five, which has not been like us here lately,” said Greenwood.
Down 5-3 after four, Franklin added another run in the fifth, but three more runs from Tuscola ultimately put the game out of reach. Senior catcher Davis Anders led the Panthers at the plate, driving in two runs with his third homer of the season. Freshman center fielder Tyler Williams went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk.
After the Mountaineer win in Waynesville, on Friday, March 31 the series moved to McConnell Field. After an excellent first three frames by junior pitcher Josiah Hursey, Tuscola’s defense started the third with some costly errors, hitting junior right fielder Reed Raby with a pitch and allowing Williams to reach first base on an error. After both stealing second to advance to scoring position, Raby and Williams came home on a two-out double from Anders just shy of the center field wall. Junior second baseman Malachi Hayes then added to the Panther rally, bringing Anders home with a line-drive double up the middle.
After two more quick innings from Hursey on the mound, Franklin’s offense heated up again in the fifth, getting a leadoff single from junior shortstop Ian Knepp and a walk from Anders on their first two at-bats. Minutes later, Tuscola hit junior first baseman Jaxson Hursey with a pitch, loading the bases with one out for senior designated hitter Caleb Cloer. Cloer wasted little time in capitalizing, smacking a first-pitch line drive just past the pitcher’s glove for a two-run double. Junior Beau Paulson pitched shutouts the final two innings en route to a 5-0 victory.
Josiah Hursey dealt seven strikeouts and allowed just two hits in five innings, while Paulson allowed zero hits and struck out two batters of his own. Anders again led the Panthers at the plate, going 1 for 2 with his third-inning two-RBI double, two runs scored and a walk. After avenging their 7-0 loss at East with a 3-0 home win, Friday’s result was Franklin’s second straight Game 2 victory after losing Game 1.
“We definitely play better at home, which, it’s easy to play at home with everybody here in the stands – this place was rocking tonight,” said Greenwood. “Joe’s the man. He pitched unbelievable again. … Beau has been throwing lights-out too, so we had that trust in Beau to come in for two innings. Joe gave us five great ones, and we finally showed up and hit. We got some two-out hits and some timely hitting. We still left too many runners on, so if we get a couple hits in two or three different situations there, we’re probably going home early after five innings.”
Having split their series with East Henderson and Tuscola, the 2-2 Panthers ended the week in a three-way tie for second in the Mountain Seven. They began their third conference home-and-away series in three weeks with a home date versus 0-2 Pisgah April 4.