Baseball Drops Pair in Indiana

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (03/01/2026) — The Monmouth College baseball team was swept in a double headeron Saturday by Wabash. The Fighting Scots (0-5) collected 10 hits in both games but lost 6-1 and 5-3 as the series concluded.

Aidan Parkins (Monmouth, Illinois) started the game with a single for the second game in a row. With one out, Clayton Matkovic (Sherrard, Illinois) singled and Aiden Scott (Carrollton, Texas) loaded the bases with a single. Wabash escaped the inning with a strikeout.

Roy Ralston (Macon, Illinois) didn't allow a runner past first base in the first two innings, Wabash threatened with two on in the third but a strikeout and groundout kept the game scoreless.

Wabash took the lead in the fourth with five runs. A double and two singles brought home the first two runs and a bases loaded single brought home two more. The Little Giants added a sixth run in the fifth inning on an error, walk and single.

Jacob Blunck (Forsyth, Illinois) led off the seventh with a single and Logan Straube (Wheaton, Illinois) singled with one out. Parkins got the Scots on the board with a RBI single and Hunter Wheat (Athens, Illinois) singled to load the bases. Wabash got out of the inning with a grounder to third.

Scott and Blunck both walked with one out in the eighth as the Scots started to rally. However, a flyout and strikeout ended the inning. Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) singled to start the ninth but three straight outs ended the game.

Ralston (0-2) took the loss, allowing six runs, four earned, on six hits. He walked four and struck out four over five innings. Weslee Frame (Fairview, Illinois) finished the game with three shutout and hitless innings. He walked one and struck out one.

GAME TWO

The Scots got things going early in game two as Scott walked with one out and Matkovic doubled. Jace Wilkerson (East Peoria, Illinois) put the Scots on top with a single to center as both runners scored.

The Little Giants got one back against starter Brandon Coats (Mapleton, Illinois) in the bottom of the first with a double and a single. Zeigler-Harris singled with one out in the second and he moved up on a single by Parkins Matkovic put the Scots up 3-1 with a single to tight before Wabash got out of the inning.

In the bottom of the second, the hosts tied the game with two walks and a double. They took the lead in the fourth with a walk, hit by pitch and two-out single.

The Scots threatened in the fifth against a new pitcher. Matkovic led off with a walk and Blunck singled with one out. Zach Almaguer (Monmouth, Illinois).walked to load the bases before another pitching change. However, the Scots left the bases loaded with a fly out and strikeout.

Reliever Owen Alford (Hopedale, Illinois) took over on the mound for Coats and pitched around a walk in the sixth. Wabash scored a run in the seventh on two doubles as they took a 5-3 lead.

Monmouth loaded the bases again in the eighth but came up empty. Almaguer led off with a single and with one out, Eric Campen (Washington, Illinois) delivered a pinch-hit double. Zeigler-Harris walked but a double play ended the threat.

Ryan Garofoli (Chicago, Illinois) took over on the mound and threw a scoreless eighth. A two-out rally in the ninth came up empty as Wilkerson and Blunck singled by a strikeout ended the game.

Coats (0-1) took the loss as he allowed four runs on five hits over five innings. He walked four and stuck out three. Alford allowed one run on two hits with a walk in two innings. Garofoli threw a shutout inning and allowed a single.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Parkins has three multi-hit games on the season ... Matkovic and Scott also had two hits in game oneMatkovic, Wilkerson and Blunck had two hits in game two ... Wilkerson had two multi-RBI games on the season ... Monmouth had 10 hits in the first game, all singles ... The Scots also had 10 hits in game two with two doubles ... Alford made his college debut ... Before this weekend, the teams had not met since 2006 and Wabash leads the all-time series 10-2 ... The Scots are next in action with a double header against Capital University on Saturday, March 7 in Vero Beach, Florida ... After nine games in Florida for spring break, the Scots play the home opener on Monday, March 16 against Maranatha Baptist.