Baseball Beats Ripon on Sunday to Win Series

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (03/29/2026) — The Monmouth College baseball team opened Midwest Conference play with a home double header split against Ripon (2-13, 1-1) on Saturday. The Fighting Scots (5-12, 1-1) rallied to win game one 11-8 before dropping game two 8-0.

Ripon struck first against starter Brandon Coats (Mapleton, Illinois) in the top of the first. A single and walk with one out set the table and a 2-out double to right gave the Red Hawks the lead, Logan Straube (Wheaton, Illinois) started a relay that ended the inning with an out at third but two runs crossed the plate.

The Scots went right to work in their half of the inning as Aidan Parkins (Monmouth, Illinois) and Eric Campen (Washington, Illinois) both singled. Aiden Scott (Carrollton, Texas) launched his first home run in two years, a 3-run opposite field shot to right for a 3-2 lead. Two batters later, Jake Wilkerson (East Peoria, Illinois) hit a no-doubt solo homer for a 4-2 lead.

Coats cruised through the next two innings and Monmouth added on in the third. Campen doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch as Scott walked. A passed ball scored Campen for a 5-2 lead.

Zach Almaguer (Monmouth, Illinois) doubled home Wilkerson for a 6-2 lead in the fifth before the Red Hawks scored on a 2-out single in the sixth. Leading 6-3, the Scots tallied the final run of the game in the sixth. Hunter Wheat (Athens, Illinois) led off with a walk and moved up on a sac bunt by Parkins. With two down, Wheat scored from second on an errant pickoff throw by the Ripon pitcher.

Reliever Ryan Garofoli (Chicago, Illinois) threw two perfect innings with two strikeouts to finish the game. Coats (2-2) picked up the win with four strikeouts over a career-long seven innings. He allowed three runs on six hits and two walks.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Campen has hit safely in 13 straight games ... Parkins has a 9-game hit streak ... Scott has three career homers and his other two both game on March 29, 2024 at Grinnell ... Wilkerson leads the Scots with two home runs and he had one robbed at the fence late in the game ... Almaguer threw out two runners on the bases, one at second and one at third ... Parkins, Campen, Wilkerson and Almaguer had two hits each ... Campen and Wilkerson scored two runs each ... Coats threw a career-high seven innings Monmouth leads the all-time series 29-27 ... The Scots have won the season series two of the last three yearsMonnouth goes to Beloit next weekend for three games, two on Friday ... The next home game is Tuesday, April 7 with a 1 p.m. DH against Illinois College.