LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall baseball team (13-15, 5-3 CC) split its Centennial Conference (CC) doubleheader against Muhlenberg (7-20, 1-8 CC) Saturday afternoon at Caplan Field. The Mules earned a 3-1 win in game one, before the Diplomats claimed its fifth conference victory of the year, 7-4, in game two.

Game 1: Muhlenberg 3, Franklin & Marshall 1
Franklin & Marshall struggled to produce on offense throughout the contest as it was limited to just four hits in the game. After a scoreless first three innings, Muhlenberg pushed across the game's first run in the top of the fourth inning. From that point, the Mules slowly built momentum with runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to lead, 3-0.

The Diplomats finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh as Matt Hollender drove in Jakob Hoffman on an RBI-single through the left side of the infield to cut the deficit to two. F&M continued pressing on offense in the eighth as AJ Desautels singled and Spencer Berson worked a two-out walk. After Hoffman was hit by a pitch to load the bases, the Mules picked up a strikeout to end the threat.

Kiernan Keller (1-2) was tagged with the loss – tossing four strikeouts and allowing one earned run in 5.2 innings pitched.

Game 2: Franklin & Marshall 7, Muhlenberg 4
F&M was resilient in its game two victory as it didn't allow Muhlenberg to gain an edge early in the contest. The Diplomats were then able to push across three runs in the bottom of the sixth, which proved to be the difference in the game as F&M held on to earn the split in the doubleheader.

Tied 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth, Andrew Filippelli singled to lead off the frame. After Desautels was hit by a pitch and Bobby Falese reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases, Hoffman ripped a two-RBI single to put the Diplomats ahead, 6-4. Drew Butera then worked a walk to once again load the bases – setting up an RBI-single from von Zuben to extend the lead to 7-4.

Earlier in the game, the Mules took an early 1-0 advantage in the top of the second. In the bottom half of the frame, Butera doubled and von Zuben singled to put runners at the corners with no outs. The next batter, Evan Varga flew out to deep center field to score Butera on the sacrifice fly – tying the game.

The Mules then plated three runs in the top of the third to jump out to a 4-1 lead, but that was short-lived as the Diplomats tied the game in the bottom half of the inning once again. Desautels walked and Falese reached on an error to lead off the frame. Butera then scorched a double into right center field to score both runners and get F&M within a run. Von Zuben followed with a single into the gap that scored Butera – tying the game up at 4-4.

Von Zuben led the Diplomats with three hits, while Butera notched two in the win. Butera, Hoffman, and von Zuben ended the contest with two RBI each in the victory.

Will O'Connor (2-1) earned his second win of the season after pitching well out of the bullpen. O'Connor struck out three and didn't allow an earned run in 4.2 innings of relief. Thomas McLaughlin claimed his conference-leading fifth save of the year as he forced three groundouts in the ninth to shutdown Muhlenberg's comeback hopes.

Franklin & Marshall heads to Ursinus to wrap up its home-and-home series with the Bears on Sunday, starting at 2:00 p.m.