Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall's baseball team took down Elizabethtown by a 4-1 score on Tuesday afternoon in non-conference competition on Caplan Field.

The Diplomats won their third straight game and evened their season record to 4-4 on the year while the Blue Jays fell to 8-3. 

Starting pitch Kyle Roche (1-2) provided a clutch performance on the mound with seven strong innings to earn the win. He allowed just one earned on seven hits and struck out one batter. Elizabethtown had eight pitchers make an appearance on the day.

The Blue Jays jumped ahead early by a 1-0 tally after an RBI single in the top of the second plated the leadoff runner from second. F&M answered in the third when the Diplomats loaded the bases with one out thanks to a hit batter and two walks. J.J. Freeman stepped to the dish and notched a sacrifice fly to right field that allowed Kevin Lammers to cross the plate from third.

In the fourth, F&M secured the lead for the first time in the contest. Matthew Kann led off with a walk and stole second. With two outs on the board, Will Samuel laced an RBI single to left field for the 2-1 edge. 

That score held until the eighth when Tommy Denlinger added a pair of insurance runs for the Diplomats. Samuel and Lammers registered back-to-back, two-out singles before Justin Cavegn walked to load the bases. Denlinger came through with a single through the left side that scored Lammers and Samuel. 

Reliever's Brooks Rush and Don DiLoreto did their jobs in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, with shutout frames. DiLoreto was awarded his first save of the season. 

Samuel paced the hitters with a 2-for-4 line that included one run and an RBI. Freeman picked up three walks and Lammers recorded two runs. The Diplomats stole four bases on the afternoon and were solid in the field by not committing an error.