Grizzlies host ranked foe

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By Matt Muncy, March 11, 2010

“It’s a good test for us, especially early in the year, to see what kind of team we really are,” junior Matt Zmich said. “We play these highly ranked teams to make us better and to prepare us for the rest of the season.”

 

The Grizzlies bring a two-game losing streak into the weekend, while the Bulldogs won their last game on Tuesday against Bridgewater College, 12-2.

 

Franklin is led by Zmich who is batting .429 through four games with six hits in 14 at-bats including three doubles, a triple and a home run. He also has six RBIs and two walks. 

 

“It’s more of a mental game than people think,” Zmich said. “Just got to keep to my routine and not change things up too much.”

 

Junior Ian Sanders is batting .353 with six hits, including two doubles and two RBIs. Junior Alex Boone and sophomore Jarrett Johnson have five hits each and a combined eight RBIs.

 

Senior Luke Mehringer will likely start game one for the Grizzlies. He is 1-1 on the season with a 0.69 ERA. He has struck out 14 batters and given up three walks, eight hits and one earned run.

 

For game two, it is a tossup between Derrik Patterson and Shawn Mattingly. Patterson is 1-0 and has posted a 1.80 ERA and four strikeouts, while giving up four hits and one earned run. Mattingly got a no decision in his first start of the season after giving up three runs on six hits and finishing with a 4.50 ERA.

 

The Grizzlies have scored 31 runs in four games on 37 total hits including 11 doubles. They are batting a combined .280 with a slugging percentage of .402 and an on-base percentage of .427.

 

On the defensive side, Franklin’s pitchers are a combined 1.85 era in 34 innings. They have given up 26 hits, 11 runs – seven earned – and struck out 30 batters. The fielders have committed 11 errors and have a fielding percentage of .929.

 

The Bulldog’s Alex Cowart leads the Adrian offense with a .471 batting average. He is 8-of-17 with one double, triple, and home run and is tied for the team lead with eight RBIs. Jake Cappelletty is the other Bulldog with eight RBIs. He also has seven hits and a .438 batting average.

 

David Partyka has six innings pitched and one win. He has given up five hits and two earned runs while striking out only two batters. Ryan Domschot is also 1-0. He has pitched five innings while giving up seven hits, two earned runs and struck out six.

As a team, the Bulldogs have scored 32 runs on 45 hits including nine doubles and three home runs. They have a combined .310 batting average, .448 slugging, and .336 on-base percentage.

 

The Bulldog pitching staff has a combined 5.56 ERA in 34 innings. They have given up 41 hits and 21 earned runs, while and striking out 22 batters. The fielders have committed nine errors.

 

“They are a good team,” head coach Lance Marshall said. “It should be a competitive weekend.”