The Muhlenberg baseball team rallied from behind with a six-run sixth inning on the way to winning 18-16 and splitting its Senior Day doubleheader against Franklin & Marshall.
 
The two teams combined for 45 hits to go with the 34 runs, with the Mules (16-20, 6-12 CC) pounding out 23 hits, four shy of tying the school record for a single game, to go with 18 RBIs. A run was scored in each half inning through the first five innings.
 
The Diplomats (21-18-1, 9-8-1 CC), who took the early game 6-3, held a 13-12 lead after five innings before senior Ryan Banks came into the game and pitched the first scoreless frame in the top of the sixth. Two walks and a single loaded the bases for the Mules to start their half of the sixth when junior Matt Riebesell doubled over the left fielder's head to plate the go-ahead run, making it 14-13. Sophomore Chris Grillo followed suit with a line drive double to right field, allowing two more runs to come home. Junior Eric Reitmeyer later hit an RBI single and senior John Icaza roped a double down the left field line to score Reitmeyer and put Muhlenberg up 18-13.
 
F&M got one run back in the eighth off Banks and senior Christopher Bunero came on for the ninth inning. The Diplomats did manage two more runs and got the tying run on base before Bunero ended the slugfest by inducing a popup to Grillo at shortstop.
 
Banks earned the win on Senior Day, allowing only run on four hits while striking out one over three innings of work. Senior Troy Elias started his final home game, lasting 2 1/3 innings and recording one strikeout.
 
The win for Muhlenberg also denied Franklin & Marshall a Centennial Conference playoff berth, with Ursinus and Gettysburg earning the final two playoff spots with 10-8 records in conference.
 
The Diplomats scored two runs to start the game, but senior Thomas Yohe pushed a base hit through the left side to tie the game at 2-2. Muhlenberg added a third run in its first inning to take the lead, but F&M countered with four runs in the second. Senior Robbie Hopes recorded an RBI on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second to make it 6-4.
 
The two teams each added a run in the third and two runs in the fourth, with sophomore Stephen Koester knocking an RBI single to left for the Mules' third inning tally. Hopes then started the fourth inning with a deep blast over the center field wall for his 10th career home run. Yohe later contributed another RBI single to make it 9-7.
 
After F&M scored four runs in its half of the fifth, Muhlenberg responded again with five more runs to trim the lead to one. Hopes, Grillo, Yohe and Reitmeyer all had RBI hits in the inning, with Yohe knocking a double and plating two more of his career-best four RBIs in the game.
 
Grillo led the Mules with four hits in the victory to go with three RBIs. Hopes, Riebesell and Reitmeyer each had three hits and RBIs, while freshman John Serruto collected three hits and scored three runs.
 
In the first game, Muhlenberg jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third thanks to a run on a wild pitch, a Koester RBI single and a Grillo RBI ground out. F&M, however, rallied back with a run in the fourth and three more tallies in the seventh to take a 4-3 lead before adding two insurance runs in the ninth.
 
Grillo and Riebesell each hit doubles in the early game, giving Grillo five total hits (including three doubles) for the day. Icaza went 3-for-9 with three runs scored and a RBI in his final two home games of his career as well.