TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology kept the lead in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball standings with a doubleheader split against Franklin College at Art Nehf Field on Tuesday night.
Franklin won the opener 19-8, before Rose-Hulman rebounded to win the nightcap 6-4. The Fightin' Engineers lead the HCAC standings at 7-1 in conference play, while Franklin is tied for second in the league at 6-4.
In the nightcap, Rose-Hulman scored three runs in the first and Conner Shipley had a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth to lift the Fightin' Engineers to the 6-4 win.
Franklin rallied to tied the score at 4-4 with a three-run sixth inning. The Fightin' Engineers then held the Franklin offense without a run in the final three innings before scoring two run on Shipley's key hit.
Dan Connolly picked up the win in relief, after strong pitching outings from Trever Bruno and Matthew Rouse. Bruno allowed just one earned run in five innings with two strikeouts. Rouse allowed no earned runs with two strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work.
Brian Pershing came on to pitch a scoreless ninth with one strikeout to earn his team-high fourth save of the season.
Offensively, Shipley had two singles, one run and two RBIs to pace Rose-Hulman in game two. Davis Robeson added two singles and one run scored. Harris Camp pitched in with two singles and two RBIs. Logan Cody added a triple and two RBIs.
In the opener, Franklin hit two grand slams in the seventh inning and four home runs on the day in a 19-8 win. Ryan Bixler led the Franklin offense with three home runs and nine RBIs.
The Rose-Hulman offense was led by Robeson with two double, one single, one run and one RBI. Cody added a single, double, two runs and two RBIs. Josh Mesenbrink also had a multi-hit game with a triple, single and one run scored.
Sean Casey provided Rose-Hulman's home run with a solo shot to give the Engineers a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning.
Rose-Hulman stands 18-9 overall and 7-1 in league play, while Franklin dropped to 17-11 and 6-4. The Fightin' Engineers are scheduled to face Wabash College on Thursday at 7 p.m. in a non-conference home matchup.
