Lexington, Ky. – The Transylvania baseball team executed a comprehensive and complete set of performances on Sunday afternoon, sweeping the Franklin College Grizzlies, 7-5 and 20-6 in seven innings at Legends Ballpark.
The Pioneers used go-ahead RBI hits from Devyn Wilson-Cowan and Parker Tuszynski in the seventh inning to claim the first win of the afternoon and rode the momentum of the opening-game win to batter the Grizzlies for 16 unanswered runs over a three-inning span to even up the season series with Franklin at 2-2.
Transylvania continued to solidify its lead atop the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings, moving to 22-8 on the season while the Grizzlies fell to 15-9 overall.
Sunday's doubleheader nearly inversely mirrored the first doubleheader series of the season between the two teams in which Franklin swept Transy on April 17, 19-2 in the opener and 7-5 in the second game. The Pioneers duplicated the 7-5 win, this time in their favor in Sunday's opener and unleashed 18 hits in the nightcap for its highest scoring output of the 2021 season.
Tuszynski had a Sunday to remember with a 3 for 4 day at the plate in the opener to go with three RBI and totaled six between both games.
Taking advantage of two Grizzly errors in the opening inning, Transylvania forged a 3-0 lead behind a two-run double from Michael Blair.
The Grizzlies showed off their power with a game-tying three-run home run in the second inning and later took a 4-3 lead in the third inning on another solo shot past the bleachers.
Franklin's lead didn't last long as Tuszynski's muscle surfaced again for the Pioneers in the bottom of the third. Riley Willbur led off the inning hit by pitch, and Nick Wade drew a one-out walk. With two runners on and two down, Tuszynski spliced a shot into centerfield, bringing home Devyn Wilson-Cowan and Wade to return the lead to Transy at 5-4.
The Grizzlies hit another home run in the top of the fifth, squaring the game at 5-5, but starting pitcher Jake Schmidt retired two hitters swinging for two of his eight strikeouts on the afternoon to limit the damage.
Transylvania went ahead for good in the bottom of the seventh as Wilson-Cowan scored Blair on a one-out RBI double to centerfield. In the next at-bat, Tuszynski smacked his third hit of the day on a single through the right side to drive in Wilson-Cowan for the insurance run.
Trent Youngblood played at second for the first six innings and worked the final three on the mound to collect his first career win, striking out three, walking one, yielding no hits and no runs.
Wade, Youngblood, and Wade Lopiccolo each mustered three hits apiece in the ensuing game as the Grizzlies witnessed the totality of the Pioneer lineup. The Grizzlies went ahead first in the top of the second inning on an RBI single, but their lead would again be short-lived.
The Pioneers computed a four-run outburst in the bottom of the frame as the first four batters of the inning all reached base. Tuszynski made his presence continually felt with a two-run single to right center to give the Pioneers the lead for good at 2-1. Lopiccolo scored Tuszynski on a sacrifice fly RBI and Chastain drove in Trent Pahl on an RBI single to allot the Pioneers a 4-1 advantage after two full innings.
Transylvania scored for the second straight inning as Blair unleashed his third home run of the season to the upper deck of left field in the fifth inning en route to a 5-1 Transy lead.
The Pioneers instantly shut the door in the fourth inning as they posted their highest-scoring inning of the season with an 11-run onslaught. The Pioneers registered eight hits and four walks while seven hitters batted twice in the inning.
Transylvania answered a two-run inning in the top of the fifth from Franklin with four more runs in the bottom of the fifth, thanks in part to a two-run double by Lopiccolo. After Griffin Hall came across the plate on an RBI by Willbur, the Pioneers had sewn a 20-3 lead.
Evan Hall held Franklin in check over the first five innings of the game to pick up his fourth win of the season, striking out six, walking four, and allowing four hits.
Both Nick Wade and Wade Lopiccolo registered four RBI in game two while seven Pioneers had two RBI or more. Freshman Walter Munday picked up the first hit of his career, a single into right field in the bottom of the fifth, representing the fourth hit of the potent fifth inning for Transylvania.
The teams will rematch on Tuesday, April 27 for their fifth meeting of the season in Franklin, Indiana. First pitch between Transylvania and Franklin is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. from McDowell Field.
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