LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall baseball team (8-12) earned a hard-fought, 11-8, victory against No. 19 TCNJ (12-3) in Tuesday afternoon's non-conference mid-week matchup. F&M was resilient in the win - erasing a five-run deficit with seven runs in the seventh inning, followed by three runs in the eighth to pull away from the Lions.

TCNJ tied the game at 8-8 with a two-run home run in the top of the eighth. In the bottom half of the inning, Spencer Berson singled and Bobby Falese walked to put two runners on base with no outs. Michael von Zuben laid down a sacrifice bunt, but a wild throw to first allowed the sophomore to reach safely. With the bases loaded, Jakob Hoffman drove a double off the wall to bring all three runners home – giving the Diplomats an 11-8 advantage.

The game started scoreless through the first three innings, but TCNJ broke into the scoring column first with two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to jump ahead, 4-0. The Diplomats finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth as Falese blasted a home run over the center field fence to cut the Lions' lead to 4-1. The homer from Falese is his fourth of the season and 18th of his career.

TCNJ added two runs on three hits in the top of the seventh to extend its lead to 6-1. F&M flipped a switch in the bottom half of the inning as AJ Desautels walked and Evan Varga singled to put runners at the corners with no outs. Andrew Filippelli then roped a double into center field to score Desautels and cut the deficit to four. After a wild pitch scored Varga to get F&M within three, Berson laced a single through the left side of the infield to score Filippelli and make the score 6-4. The next batter, Falese dropped a base hit into right field for an RBI-double – cutting the TCNJ lead to 6-5. The Diplomats tied the game as a wild pitch allowed Berson to score and Falese to move up to third. A sacrifice fly to right field brought Falese home to give F&M its first lead of the game. The Diplomats added another run on an RBI-single from Drew Butera to extend their lead to 8-6 to close the frame.

Friday's victory is F&M's first win over a ranked opponent since March of last season when the Diplomats beat then-ranked No. 23 Montclair State, 12-2.

Berson, Butera, and Falese finished the game with two hits each, while Filippelli, Hoffman, and Varga each tallied one in the win.

Dan Galef (2-2) picked up the win on the mound, striking out one in one inning of relief. Thomas McLaughlin earned his second save of the season as he forced three fly outs to end the game.

Franklin & Marshall looks to build off the momentum as the Diplomats head into a big weekend. On Saturday, F&M begins conference play with a home doubleheader against Swarthmore, starting at noon. The doubleheader will feature a 50/50 raffle to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association. If you cannot attend, you can donate here. Thank you for your support!