TERRE HAUTE, IND. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology improved to 7-0 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball action and won its ninth straight game with an 8-4 victory over Franklin College on Tuesday night at Art Nehf Field.
Rose-Hulman battled back from deficits of 2-0 with two runs in the fourth and 4-2 with two more in the fifth to knot the score at 4-4. A three-run sixth inning and clutch pitching in the eighth secured the victory.
Sophomore Donnie Waters (Franklin, Ind./Franklin) led the Fightin' Engineers with three singles, a double, two RBIs and one run scored. Sophomore Caleb Kissel (Plainfield, Ill./North) added two singles, a double, three RBIs and three runs scored.
Senior Andrew Benitez (Mililani, Hawaii) also contributed a multiple-hit game to the performance with two singles and two RBIs.
Scott Windley and Cody Shipley led the Franklin offense with two hits each. Joe Ardizzone contributed two RBIs to the performance.
The offense made a winner of senior Kevin Farley (Centennial, Colo.), who tossed six strong innings to move to 3-0 on the season. Farley scattered five hits with three walks and six strikeouts in the victory.
Sophomore Alec McNally (Geneva, Ill./Wheaton Academy) recorded the biggest out of the game as part of his sixth save of the year. McNally entered with the bases loaded in the Franklin eighth inning, protecting a 7-4 lead, and struck out catcher Tyler Ison to shut down the rally.
The Rose-Hulman offense scored twice in the first inning and twice in the fifth to knot the score at 4-4. Senior Hank Akard (Indianapolis/Ben Davis), who tied Rose-Hulman's career stolen base record with his 39th later in the game, opened the rally by reaching on an error. After singles by Kissel and Waters, Benitez tied the score at 2-2 with a two-run single.
In the fifth inning, Kissel reached on an error and scored on a double by Waters. The second run came home on the back end of a double play to tie the game at 4-4.
Three runs in the sixth inning put Rose-Hulman ahead to stay. Sophomore Patrick Klima (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph) walked and Akard reached again on a fielding error. Kissel doubled home two runs, before Waters capped the rally with an RBI single.
Rose-Hulman improved to 12-4 overall and 7-0 in league play, while Franklin dropped to 13-8 and 4-3 in conference games. The Fightin' Engineers host Washington University on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in a non-conference matchup.
