BOONE, N.C. – Redshirt senior Dale Francis Jr. put his name in the record books on Saturday afternoon, blasting a program record four homeruns to go along with 12 RBIs while leading the Gardner-Webb (6-6) baseball team to a thrilling 16-14 win at App State (5-5) at Smith Stadium.
Francis now has five homeruns and 14 RBIs in the first two games of the series with the Mountaineers. Junior Ryan Kennell also provided offense for the Runnin' Bulldogs, collecting two hits in four at-bats to go along with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Francis began his record-breaking night in the top of the first, lifting a 1-0 pitch deep over the left field wall for his first of four longballs, scoring junior Merik Carter, who singled with one out for GWU.
The Mountaineers came back with three of their own in the home half of the first while taking their first lead of the contest. Gardner-Webb tacked on a single run in the second to knot the game at 3-3 following a single through the right side off the bat of Kennell, plating senior Lawson Knight.
However, App State pushed across a pair of runs each in the third and fourth frames, taking a 7-3 lead heading to the top of the fifth. Carter walked to start the at-bat before Francis launched his second of the game to left field, pulling the 'Dawgs to within 7-5.
After the Mountaineers went quietly in the home half of the fifth, Gardner-Webb took its second lead of the game with four runs in the sixth. Senior Ethan Rossow kickstarted the inning with a one-out single down the left field line before coming around to score on a base hit from Kennell. That set the stage for Francis' third homer of the game, a three-run blast to the opposite field, giving GWU a 9-7 advantage.
App State earned one of those runs back in the bottom of the frame, but the offensive explosion for the Runnin' Bulldogs continued in the seventh, scoring six more times, the big blow coming once again from Francis who demolished a 2-0 pitch with the bases loaded well over the left field fence for his first grand slam of the season, ballooning the lead to 15-8.
The Mountaineers scored six of its own the bottom of the seventh while closing the gap to 15-14, but Gardner-Webb added an insurance run in the eighth after Francis was intentionally walked with the bases loaded to give GWU the 16-14 lead.
Junior Jerek Hobb moved to 3-0 on the year after tossing 2.1 innings and allowing only one earned run while redshirt sophomore Jaden Stockton fired the final 2.1 innings to pick up his first save of the season.
Gardner-Webb will return to action tomorrow afternoon, wrapping up a three-game set with the Mountaineers. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. in Hickory, N.C.
