LANCASTER, PA -- Rob Georgiou (Sr., Tappan, NY/Bergen Catholic) went four-for-seven and the Diplomats hit three home runs on the day to sweep a Centennial Conference Saturday doubleheader against McDaniel College 5-3 and 7-4.
In game one the Diplomats jumped on the board in the bottom of the first inning as Georgiou led the inning off with a double to the left field fence before Chris Smith (So., Fairfax Station, VA/Robinson) singled to move Georgiou to third. Scott Haft (Jr., Jupiter, FL/Jupiter) then drove a double to right centerfield scoring Georgiou and moving Smith to third. Two batters later Gary Kruger (So., East Islip, NY/East Islip) scored Smith on a RBI ground out to the shortstop to give F&M a 2-0 advantage after one complete inning.
The game would remain 2-0 until the top of the fourth inning when the Terror scored a run off starting pitcher John Walsh (Sr., Havertown, PA/Haverford) to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Franklin & Marshall responded in the bottom of the inning as Dan Weber (Sr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) stepped to the plate and deposited a 1-0 pitch over the left field fence to give F&M a 3-1 lead. F&M tacked on another run as Kruger drew a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a ground out. He later scored on a sacrifice fly by Corey Caruthers (So., Conestoga, PA/Penn Manor to center field to give F&M a 4-1 lead.
The Green Terror cut the lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning, but F&M scored an insurance run on a Kruger home run in the bottom of the inning before reliever E.J. Leary (So., Seymour, CT/Seymour) came in and earned his third save of the year.
On the mound, Walsh threw six innings giving up three runs on three hits while striking out six and walking one batter to earn his fourth win of the year.
Offensively, Georgiou and Haft were both two-for-three on the day while Kruger was one-for-two at the plate with two runs batted in and a home run.
In game two, The Green Terror scored in the top of the first inning as Chris Seibert led off with a single and came around to score after back-to-back singles to give the Terror a 1-0 advantage.
Franklin & Marshall answered to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning as Smith singled and scored on a home run to right field by Haft.
McDaniel knotted the score at 2-2 in the second inning as Justin Bilohlavek singled and advanced to third courtesy a throwing error on a pickoff attempt. He came around to score on a Chad Deitrich RBI ground out to third.
The Diplomats retook the lead scoring runs in the second and third for a 4-2 lead before the Terror came back with single runs in the fourth and fifth to tie the score at 4-4 and chase Serro.
Franklin and Marshall took the lead for good scoring three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning sending seven batters to the plate with four straight singles by Kruger, Eck, Caruthers and Tony Breslau (Sr., Philadelphia, PA/Chestnut Hill) to score the runs.
Reliever Pete Maki (Woodbury, CT/Nonnewaug) threw two and two thirds innings of one hit baseball with two strikeouts and a walk to pick up his first victory of the year.
Franklin & Marshall (19-12, 11-4 CC) will return to action on April 18 at Villa Julie College for non-conference doubleheader. Game one is set for 1:00 p.m.
