CHESTERTOWN, Md. – The Franklin & Marshall baseball team's offense regained its early-season form with a 14-4 drubbing of Washington on Wednesday afternoon in Centennial Conference (CC) action. The Diplomats improved to 12-17, 4-7 CC with the win, while the Shoremen fell to 12-16, 3-8 CC.

Matt Mezansky went a perfect 6-for-6 from the plate, tying the CC single game hits record, which is held by multiple batters. The sophomore third baseman also crossed home plate five times on the day, and added an RBI. Avery Attinson went 2-for-4, collected four RBIs and drew a walk.

F&M began the scoring onslaught in the second when Mezansky led off with a double to right field. Attinson singled to left later in the frame, sending Mezansky home on the play. Brett Poniros followed a few batters later with an RBI single up the middle, scoring Reed Williams from second and making it 2-0.

Three more runs on four hits were added by the Diplomats in the following frame to make it 5-0.  Mezansky notched his third hit in the top of the fourth, an RBI single up the middle to score Will Benenson from second, before RBI singles from Poniros and Benenson in the fifth made it 8-0. 

In the top of the sixth, F&M put the contest out of reach with four runs off four hits that included an RBI groundout from Attinson, a Rob Anderson RBI single up the middle and a Benenson two RBI double to right center.

After the Diplomats tacked on another run off a pair of hits in the seventh, Washington finally got on the board with a two RBI double in the bottom of the eighth to make it 13-2. Williams capped off the scoring with an RBI single through the right side to score Mezansky in the ninth, before the Shoremen cut the deficit to 10 with a two RBI double down the leftfield line in the bottom of the ninth. 

Will Hofmann (1-0) pitched six innings of shutout ball for the first win of his career. The freshman right hander allowed only four hits from the 24 batters he faced. Washington's Dan Jarrell (3-3) was dealt the loss, allowing six earned off nine hits in 3.1 innings on the mound. 

F&M registered a season-high 21 hits that included three doubles. Anderson, Poniros, Benenson, Christopher Vincent, Attinson and Williams all collected a pair of hits. Benenson's three RBIs on the day now give him 104 for his career, placing him just four shy of the program's all-time record of 108, held by Jason Anderson (2007-10). 

Left fielder Bryan Baquer paced the Shoremen with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate, two RBIs and a run scored. First baseman Dennis Thomas was the only other Washington batter to pick up multiple hits, compiling a 2-for-5 line on the day. 

The Diplomats return to action on Friday when F&M hosts Washington at Caplan Field. Game time is slated for a 3:30 p.m. start.