READING, Pa. -- Franklin & Marshall baseball cruised past Albright on the road, collecting a 7-1 victory in non-conference play. Originally supposed to be a doubleheader, the Diplomats (8-8) settled for a convincing nine inning victory against the Lions (1-16) due to field conditions delaying the start of the contest by three hours.

F&M put one on the board early in the top half of the first, as Will Samuel drove home AJ Desautels for the game's first run. Desautels reached first after getting plunked, moved to second on a groundout, stole third, then made his way home on a deep single to shortstop by Samuel.

It was Desautel's turn to drive one in during a rally in the fifth, as a single down the left field line plated Tommy Denlinger for a 2-0 lead.

The Diplomats broke the game open in the sixth, loading the bases before an out was recorded. After Jakob Hoffman was plunked, Will Samuel smacked another single to put two on. An attempted sacrifice bunt needed to be swallowed by the catcher, filling the bases with Diplomats for Spencer Berson. Berson promptly moved everyone station to station with an RBI single, then was followed by a two-run single from Evan Varga that sliced down the right field line for a 5-0 lead. Desautels delivered again a few batters later, knocking one deep enough to sacrifice Drew Butera across the dish for a 6-0 edge.

Meanwhile, Greg Nieskens had been settling in and dealing in his third start of the year, facing just four above the minimum through the first five innings. Albright finally got to him in the sixth, ripping an RBI double to score one and making it 6-1. The lefty promptly struck out three straight to end the Lions threat, finishing the day with nine punchouts.

After Dan Galef punched out the side in the bottom of the seventh, F&M tacked on an insurance run in the next frame. Evan Varga led off the inning with a double to right-center, then was brought home by a Tommy Denlinger through the right side for a 7-1 advantage.

Steven Turzai shut the door with a 1-2-3 ninth, including a spectacular diving catch by Drew Butera in foul territory for the final out.

Evan Varga did the the heavy lifting on offense, going 2-4 with a double and two RBI. Tommy Denlinger and Will Samuel both finished with multi-hit games, driving in one. AJ Desautels finished 1-3 with two RBI and a pair of stolen bases.

Nieskens (3-1) picked up the victory, going six innings of one run ball, striking out nine. Dan Galef and Steven Turzai combined for three innings of scoreless relief.

The Diplomats continue their road trip, heading to Annville, Pa. on Sunday afternoon for a 1:00 p.m. start against Lebanon Valley.