ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – The Franklin & Marshall baseball team (0-3) was defeated by North Carolina Wesleyan (7-2) in both games of its non-conference doubleheader on Sunday. The Battling Bishops claimed game one, 8-2, before completing the sweep with a 7-1 victory in game two.

Game 1: N.C. Wesleyan 8, F&M 2
The Diplomats got within a run of N.C. Wesleyan in the fourth inning, but couldn't overtake the Bishops in the game as the hosts plated three runs in the sixth and two runs in the eighth to pull away from F&M on the scoreboard.

Trailing 2-0 in the top of the fourth, Drew Butera led off the frame with a triple into the left center field gap. Andrew Filippelli brought Butera home on an RBI-groundout to the shortstop – cutting the deficit to 2-1.

F&M had a chance of tying the game in the top of the fifth as AJ Desautels walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. A fly-out allowed Desautels to move to third, but back-to-back strikeouts extinguished the Diplomats' scoring opportunity.

Behind 6-1 in the top of the eighth, the Diplomats loaded the bases with two outs in the frame. A walk to Evan Varga brought home Jakob Hoffman to make it a 6-2 game. However, that would be the only run F&M would push across in the inning as a strikeout ended the threat.

Bobby Falese recorded two of F&M's five hits in the contest. In addition, Falese and Filippelli each picked up a stolen base in game one of the doubleheader.

Dan Galef (0-1) was the losing pitcher in the opening game – striking out seven and allowing just one earned run in five innings of work.

Game 2: N.C. Wesleyan 7, F&M 1
Franklin & Marshall jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but N.C. Wesleyan scored seven-unanswered runs to roll past the Diplomats in game two.

Spencer Berson led off the contest in a big way as he roped a triple in the left center field gap. Two batters later, Hoffman laced a double into right center field to score Berson and give F&M a 1-0 lead.

The Diplomats would control the lead until the bottom of the third when N.C. Wesleyan used a solo home run to tie the game up at 1-1. The Bishops then plated two runs in the fourth and three runs in the fifth to pull away from the visitors and complete the series sweep.

Berson tallied two hits in the game, while Desautels, Filippelli, Hoffman, and Nolan McCloskey each recorded one.

Peter Mullen (0-1) was tagged with the loss as he tied a career-best seven strikeouts and allowed one earned run in 3.2 innings on the mound.

Franklin & Marshall now heads to Montclair State for a three-game series, starting on Saturday. First pitch for Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for noon.