<p>For most of this season, the Franklin College baseball team has treated opposing pitchers like sunflower seeds — chewed up, spit out and left a mere shell of their former selves.</p>
<p>The Grizzlies opened the season with consecutive 15-run outings and haven’t slowed down since. They bring the No. 2 scoring offense in Division III into this weekend’s HCAC tournament, which begins today in Franklin.</p>
<p>Pick an offensive category, and Franklin is at or near the top of the country. Home runs? The Grizzlies lead with 56 — eight more than any other team. On-base percentage? First at .469. Franklin is also first in walks, second in runs, third in batting average and slugging percentage, fifth in total hits and second to none in confidence.</p>
<p>At 35-3, the team has already set a program record for wins in a season, and they’ll be trying to pad that total in the coming weeks.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]
<p>"I think they know they can compete with anybody," head coach Lance Marshall said. "They’re very confident, and we can’t wait to get to the postseason. It’ll be pretty exciting."</p>
<p>There are plenty of reason for Franklin to be so self-assured, starting with an offense that averages 11 runs per game. The Grizzlies are batting a robust .357 as a team, with nary a weak link anywhere in the lineup — each of the 10 players with 72 at-bats or more is hitting at least .306.</p>
<p>That balance has allowed every player to go to the plate feeling less pressure.</p>
<p>"It really helps that up and down our whole lineup, in the field on defense and the pitchers, everyone just trusts each other," senior infielder Frank Podkul said. "You never see anyone trying to do more than they need to do. I think that’s been the biggest key for us this year — nobody feels like they have to be the guy."</p>
<p>Podkul has been as close to "the guy" as anyone, particularly of late. The Schererville native, batting .340 with a team-best 54 runs batted in, recently set the school’s single-season and career records for home runs with 14 and 27, respectively — smashing six in the team’s last five games.</p>
<p>But pitching around Podkul isn’t an option; not in a lineup that features such other sluggers as Ryan Bixler (.373, 11 HR, 51 RBIs), Nick Wright (.344, 8 HR, 44 RBIs) and Sam Claycamp (.318, 7 HR, 45 RBIs). Nine different Franklin hitters have driven in at least 20 runs, and seven boast an on-base plus slugging (OPS) over 1.000.</p>
<p>Marshall hasn’t really been all that surprised by the group’s insane productivity.</p>
<p>"We knew we would have a veteran lineup, and I think we’ve got a relentless lineup — 1 through 9, and even beyond 9."</p>
<p>But it hasn’t just been the lineup, either. The Grizzlies rank among the nation’s top 50 in earned-run average at 3.67.</p>
<p>Senior hurler Christian Sullivan, who is 6-0 with a 2.87 ERA in 11 starts, says that the comfort of regular run support makes life much easier on the pitching staff. </p>
<p>"When you know you’re going to put up 11 runs a game, it’s easy to go out there and just throw strikes and get guys out," he said. "It makes attacking hitters a lot easier — you don’t have to try to be fine."</p>
<p>Franklin College went a combined 36-41 the last two seasons with very similar personnel, but Marshall had a strong feeling that everything was going to fall into place this spring. </p>
<p>The coach saw the effort that was being put in during the offseason and knew it would pay off. None of this season’s success has been a fluke.</p>
<p>"These guys have worked exceptionally hard, in a lot of cases for four years, but certainly throughout the course of this year and in the offseason," Marshall said. "They spend time in the weight room, they spend time hitting on their own, and they genuinely enjoy being around each other — and I think that helps. The chemistry is fantastic."</p>
<p>"Everyone is genuinely happy for other people’s success on our team," Podkul added. "We use the phrase ‘we’ guys and ‘me’ guys; we have a team full of ‘we’ guys."</p>
<p>And together, they’ve become a pretty scary group to deal with.</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="If you go" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p><p style="text-align: center">HCAC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT</p>
<p>Today</p>
<p>Game 1: Manchester vs. Bluffton, 9:30 a.m.</p>
<p>Game 2: Anderson vs. Rose-Hulman, 12:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Franklin, 3:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Friday</p>
<p>Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 9:30 a.m.</p>
<p>Game 5: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 12:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser, 3:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Saturday</p>
<p>Game 7: Game 6 winner vs. Game 5 loser, 9:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Game 8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 12:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Sunday</p>
<p>Game 8 rematch (if necessary), 12:30 p.m.</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]
