WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The St. Olaf College baseball team held an 8-5 lead after six innings before Franklin College rallied over the final three innings for a 9-8 victory over the Oles on Monday afternoon at the RussMatt Invitational at Chain of Lakes Park.

In the first-ever meeting between the two programs, St. Olaf (4-5) scored in three-straight innings over the middle innings to build an 8-5 lead, but Franklin (14-4) got one run in the seventh and three in the eighth to claim the one-run win. Sophomore Joey Glampe reached base in all five of his at bats for the Oles, going 3-for-3 with two doubles, two hit-by-pitches, two runs, and two RBI.

Fifth-year senior Matthew Muller and first year Matthew Kulesa had two hits apiece, with Muller scoring two runs and driving in another. Sophomore Sam Lavin knocked in two runs and first year Evan Hammonds scored twice in the loss.

Both teams put four runs on the board in a high-scoring first inning. After Franklin scored four times in the top of the inning, Hammonds and Muller started the home half with back-to-back singles before Glampe brought them both in with a double. Two batters later, Lavin singled in Glampe for the third run of the inning and the Oles went on to tie the game with an unearned run on an error.

The Grizzlies took a 5-4 lead in the second on Logan Demkovich's eighth home run of the season but were held scoreless after that until the seventh, as St. Olaf scored twice in the fourth, once in the fifth, and once in the sixth to take an 8-5 lead.

Hammonds started the fourth by reaching on a three-base error and came in to score on a triple by Muller to tie the game. The Oles grabbed a 6-5 lead on a double-play grounder later in the inning. Consecutive singles by sophomore Brian Nevin, Kulesa, and junior Harald Borg in the fifth led to another run for St. Olaf, which tacked on another run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Lavin.

After getting a run in the seventh to get within two, the Grizzlies scored three times on just one hit in the eighth, taking advantage of two hit batters, two walks, two stolen bases, and a wild pitch in the inning. Alex Reinoehl made the lead stand up for Franklin, allowing just one Ole to reach base over the final two innings to record the save.

Four pitchers worked in the game for St. Olaf, as sophomore Will Wamre suffered the loss after allowing three runs in a third of an inning in the eighth. First year Matthew Oberlander took a no-decision after allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits in five innings while striking out four. Sophomore Derek Hansen struck out three over his two innings of work in relief, while senior Jonah Smithon retired five of the six batters he faced to finish the game.

The Oles are back in action on Tuesday, March 29 with nine-inning games against Williams (10 a.m. CDT) and Franklin (1:30 p.m. CDT).