WINCHESTER, Va. – Franklin & Marshall's baseball team fell behind early and could not recover, falling to Shenandoah on the road by an 18-7 score on Thursday evening. The non-conference defeat dropped the Diplomats' record to 8-9 on the season, while the Hornets improved to 17-4. 

A pair of homeruns in the top of the first set the tone for Shenandoah's offense as the Hornets took an early 3-0 lead after the first frame. Five runs on four hits and three errors from F&M allowed Shenandoah to continue adding on to the score, making it 8-0 after the second. 

David Iacobucci singled through the left side in the fourth to score Will Benenson from third to get the Diplomats on the board and make it an 8-1 game. However, the Hornets quickly followed with five runs off four hits in the bottom of the frame to pull ahead by 12. 

F&M's offense began to heat up in the sixth when Benenson hit his first home run of the year, a two-run shot to left field that scored Matt Mezansky. The Diplomats added two more to the scoreboard in the following inning off one hit and an error from Shenandoah, before rounding out the scoring with two more in the top of the eighth off an Iacobucci solo homer and a Zach Levins double down the right field line, but were unable to cut into the overwhelming deficit. 

Eric Bateman (1-1) was charged with the loss after starting the game and allowing three earned off seven hits in three innings on the mound. 

Benenson paced the F&M offense with a 2-for-5 showing at the plate that included a pair of RBIs, while Iacobucci went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Third baseman Michael Paul led the Hornets with a 2-for-6 effort that included four RBIs, while shortstop Billy Arenas went 4-for-6 from the leadoff position.

Shenandoah outhit F&M at 17-11. The Diplomats stranded seven batters through nine innings, while the Hornets let eight stay out on the basepads. 

F&M returns to action on Saturday when the Diplomats host McDaniel for their first Centennial Conference (CC) contest of the season. The doubleheader at Caplan Field kicks off at 12:30 p.m.