Anderson Battles Past Franklin in HCAC Tournament Elimination Game

The fifth-seeded Anderson University baseball team battled past sixth-seeded Franklin College in a Day 2 elimination game of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Tournament by a score of 11-7 on Friday at Kokomo Municipal Stadium in Kokomo.

Anthony Smith put the Grizzlies (20-22) on the board in the top of the first inning with a run-scoring single.

Anderson (24-18) responded with three runs in the bottom of the first. Tyler Smitherman singled in a run and Trey Dorton scored on a passed ball. Griffin Wolf struck out and was thrown out on a dropped third strike, but the throw to first allowed Justin Reed to score the third run of the inning.

Dorton added an RBI single in the second.

The Grizzlies cut the deficit to 4-2 in the top of the third when Garrett DeHart drove in Dyllan Redmon on a ground out.

Anderson poured in five runs in the bottom of third to take a 9-2 lead after getting the merry-go-round going. After the Ravens reached base with the first three batters, Brendan Tabor drew a bases-loaded walk. Cooper Webb produced a run-scoring single. Charlie Jones and Smitherman each drew-bases loaded walks. Justin Reed drove in Webb on a sacrifice fly.

A.J. Sanders ripped an RBI triple for Franklin in the fourth.

Smith knocked in Tysen Lipscomb on a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Andrew Wallace singled in a run during the same inning to trim Anderson's lead to 9-5.

In the bottom of the fifth, Smitherman cranked an RBI double. Tabor added a run in the sixth to put Anderson up by six after scoring on a double-play ball.

Sean Sullivan and Adam Taylor produced RBI doubles to put the Grizzlies within four in the seventh. Justin Schassburger came in with runners on second and third up by four and was able to escape the inning. The Grizzlies were unable to score in the eighth and ninth.

Smitherman led the Ravens, going 3-for-3 with three RBI, two doubles and two walks. Dorton finished 2-for-3. Jones and Jed Downham each drew three walks. Connor Gordon, Webb and Wolf each provided singles to round out Anderson's eight hits. Gordon also stole a base.

Sanderson belted a triple for the Grizzlies. Lipscomb, Sullivan and Taylor each provided doubles while Smith drove in two runs. Smith, Wallace and Colby Reed rounded out Franklin's seven hits with singles. Redmon also a stole a base for the Grizzlies.

Noah Wathen (4-2) picked up the win for the Ravens. He struck out three batters, issued five walks and allowed seven runs (five earned) on seven hits in six and two-thirds innings. Justin Schassburger recorded his first save of the season. He punched out one batter, yielded three walks and gave up zero runs on zero hits in two and one-third innings.

Jackson Young (3-7) took the loss. He struck out two batters, issued two walks and conceded four runs (two earned) on four hits in two innings. Matthew Johnson fanned one batter, conceded two walks and surrendered five runs (three earned) on one hit in zero innings. Brayden Morrow walked two batters and gave up zero runs on zero hits in one inning. Dylan Sprong punched out four batters, issued five walks and allowed two runs on three hits in five innings.

Anderson takes on third-seeded Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (25-18) in the HCAC Tournament on Saturday at 12 p.m. at Kokomo Municipal Stadium. The winner of the 12 p.m. challenges top-seeded Hanover College (27-15) at 3:30 p.m.