BAYAMON, PUERTO RICO – No. 2 Franklin & Marshall was hitting on all cylinders as the Diplomats defeated Denison 14-4 early on Thursday before taking down Plymouth State 20-6 in the nightcap at Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The Diplomats improved to 6-0 with the pair of victories. 

F&M kept Denison off the board for over 45 minutes as the Diplomats jumped out to a 13-0 lead midway through the second half. Denison scored three straight before the teams exchanged goals in the final 3:35 of action.

Paige Moriarty paced the offense with three goals and six assists. Grace Saliba scored three times handed out an assist and caused three turnovers. Claire Jackson dished out four helpers and scored once while Anastasia Mergner and Gabby Frank both finished with two goals. Mergner added three ground balls, and three assists, and Frank also recorded an assist.

Caroline Kolva and Maddie Hughes each scored once and Peyton Annese picked up her first career goal with a tally in the second.

Vanessa Budd forced five turnovers to lead the defensive unit and Samantha Blicht along with Stephanie Speese both caused two turnovers. Blicht came away with a team-high four ground balls, Speese had three ground balls, and Frank ended with three as well.

Kaitlin Hardt picked up the win with two stops and improved to 2-0.

F&M outshot Denison 36-13, held a 26-17 edge in ground balls and forced 23 turnovers.

Plymouth Sate stayed close early in the second contest. Claire Jackson made it 1-0 early in the first and PSU answered 24 seconds later and tied the game at 1-1. Paige Moriarty found Gabby Frank twice in a little over a minute for a 3-1 F&M edge, but PSU struck back and made it 3-2 at 22:55.

Moriarty found Saliba at 19:26 and Peyton Annese connected on a free position to put the Diplomats up 5-2. PSU came within two, 5-3, before the Diplomats scored six straight, including a behind-the-back goal from Grace Saliba, and took an 11-3 lead at 7:41.

PSU scored with 2:22 left in the first and F&M countered with seven unanswered for an 18-4 lead with 15:15 left in the game. Two from PSU put the score at 18-6 and F&M netted the last scores to seal the victory.

Moriarty led the offense again with four scores, and three assists and Frank ended with three scores and two assists. Jackson and Grace Saliba both had two goals and three helpers, and Mergner had two goals, one assist, and four draw controls.

Bridget O'Donnell had a pair of scores while Yen Baker, Aly Saliba and Annese each finished with a goal. Claire Miller and Natalie Delinsky both had a score and an assist.

Jackson, Hardt and Taylor Freud all two caused turnovers and Sarah Bozzo finished with a team-high three ground balls.

Hardt improved to 3-0 with the win in goal for the Diplomats.

F&M led in shots, 28-12; ground balls, 23-16; and went 9-for-11 on clear attempts.

The Diplomats return to action on Wednesday when F&M travels to Salisbury for a 4:00 p.m. game.