TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology reduced its magic number to qualify for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament to one with an 11-2 victory over Franklin College on Tuesday night at Art Nehf Field.
The Fightin' Engineers scored three runs in the third inning, four in the fifth and three in the eighth to improve to 16-8 in conference play. Senior Koby Close had three singles to lead the offense attack, along with one run and one RBI. Sophomore Conner Shipley added two singles, one run and one RBI.
Other key contributors to the offensive attack included David Burnside with a three-run, bases loaded double in the third inning; Zach Trusk, Davis Robeson and Logan Schiessle with a single and a run scored; and the duo of Drew Schnitz and Marcus Wechselberger with a single and two runs.
Junior Ian Grant picked up the victory with a strong six inning performance. Grant scattered eight hits with one strikeout to improve to 3-3 on the season. Freshman Clayton Mayfield added three scoreless innings in relief with three strikeouts for his fourth save.
Rose-Hulman also played its final regular season home game of the 2017 season in the victory. The Fightin' Engineers recorded an 11-7 home record on the campaign.
Rose-Hulman improved to 18-19 overall and 16-8 in league play, while Franklin dropped to 20-15 and 12-10 in conference games. The Fightin' Engineers need one win in a three game series at Mount St. Joseph, or one loss by Franklin in a three game series against Manchester, to clinch a spot in the league tournament.
