FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Franklin & Marshall baseball team (4-8) picked up two wins against Rockford (3-7) on its first day at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic Saturday morning. The Diplomats claimed game one, 16-7, before downing the Regents, 13-2, in game two.

Game 1: F&M 16, Rockford 7

F&M used a five-run fourth inning and six-run sixth frame to cruise past Rockford in the first game of the day.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning, Spencer Berson and Jakob Hoffman reached base to have runners at first and second with two outs. After Pat Elliott legged out an infield single to load the bases, AJ Desautels laced a single into center field to score Berson and Hoffman - giving the Diplomats the 2-1 advantage. The following batter, Tommy Denlinger singled to center to plate Elliot to make it a 3-1 game.

With the score still 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth, F&M got runners at the corners to set up Bobby Falese shooting a triple into the right center field gap, extending the lead to 5-1. The next batter, Hoffman, tagged a single up the middle to score Falese – making it a 6-1 game. F&M scored two more runs in the inning to grow its lead to 8-1.

Franklin & Marshall led 10-2 in the bottom of the fifth after Hoffman launched his second home run of the season over the right center field wall. Rockford didn't go away easily as the Regents pieced together a five-run sixth inning to cut the deficit to three.

Franklin and Marshall responded in the bottom of the frame with six runs of their own. With the bases-loaded and nobody out, Desautels scored on a wild pitch. Drew Butera then emptied the bases with a double into left center field to make it a 13-7 game.

Five Diplomats finished the game with multiple hits, led by Hoffman's three. Falese and Hoffman led the team in runs batted in with three each in the contest.

Dan Galef (2-0) earned the victory on the mound, striking out four batters and giving up three earned runs in five innings of work. Grant Burgess claimed his first save of the season, striking out two and allowing one hit in 1.1 innings.

Game 2: F&M 13, Rockford 2

Franklin & Marshall scored five runs in both the third and fourth innings to roll through Rockford in the second game of the doubleheader.

After Rockford gained an early 1-0 lead, F&M got a leadoff runner on in the top of third after Nolan McCloskey worked a walk and immediately stole second. Berson roped a single into left field, scoring McCloskey and tying the game at 1-all. After Falese legged out a single on the infield, Patrick Cettina was hit by the pitch to load the bases. Andrew Filippelli scorched a two-out double down the left field line to score two and move Cettina to third. Both runners scored on two infield errors on the next at-bat to push F&M's lead to 5-1.

With two runners on in the top of the fourth, Falese hit his second triple of the day to widen the lead to 7-1. Hoffman brought Falese home with a double to left field to score the third of five total runs in the frame.

Offensively, Falese and Filippelli tallied two hits in the contest. Filippelli led the game with four RBI, while Falese recored two RBI in the win. Desautels ended the game with two of F&M's six stolen bases in the victory.

Greg Nieskens (1-3) was the winning pitcher in the game, striking out eight and only allowing one earned run in five innings on the mound.

Franklin & Marshall looks to continue building up the winning streak as it takes on Western Connecticut State Sunday at noon.