ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The 11^th ranked Webster University baseball team was back on the diamond this afternoon when they played host to the Franklin (Ind.) College Grizzlies for a nonconference doubleheader. The Gorloks swept the doubleheader as they won the first game by a final score of 5-1 and the second game by a final score of 7-1 to improve to 26-5 on the year and extend their winning streak to 16 straight games. With the sweep, Franklin falls to 23-11 on the year.

The Gorloks put together eight hits in the first game of the day. After finding themselves trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the second, A.J. Smith was able to hit his fourth homerun of the season to tie the score at one. Webster continued to put the ball in play as the game progressed and scored a run in the bottom of the third and two runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 4-1 lead in the game. A.J. Smith extended the lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single, and the Gorloks picked up the final outs of the game to extend their winning streak to 15 games.

Deven Shulstad (1-0) was the starting pitcher in this one as he allowed just two hits and one earned run while striking out five in 4.0 innings. Ben Kowalski picked up the save as he did not allow a hit while striking out three in the final 3.0 innings of the game.

A.J. Smith led the way at the plate as he went 2-for-2 with a solo homerun and three RBI. In addition, Nathaniel Martinez went 1-for-3 with a solo homerun, Parker Wielt went 2-for-3 with a run scored, and Adam Lovell went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

The Gorloks put together 11 hits in the second game of the day. Webster got on the board first in this one as Malik Wirges hit an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth to give Webster a 1-0 lead. The Grizzlies tied it in the top of the fifth, but a six-run rally from the Gorloks in the bottom of the sixth proved to be the difference in the game.

J.T. Miller was the starting pitcher in this one as he allowed three hits while striking out three in 4.2 innings. Ben Kowalski (8-1) picked up the win as he did not allow a hit while striking out four in the final 2.1 innings of the contest.

R.J. LaRocco led the way at the plate as he went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored. Evan Evola also had a nice game as he went 3-for-4 with a solo homerun (6) in the sixth to give the Gorloks the lead. In addition, Matt Staker went 2-for-3 with an RBI, Ben Swords went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and Malik Wirges went 1-for-2 with an RBI.

The baseball team is back in action on Wednesday, April 27^th when they travel down Big Bend to take on the Washington (Mo.) University Bears for a nonconference matchup. The Gorloks will play one game on the day starting at 3 p.m.