Baseball Drops 14 Inning Contest at Knox

Game Two Postponed to Sunday

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (04/11/2026) — The Monmouth College baseball team scored three in the top of the 14th but gave up four in the bottom for an 8-7 loss to Knox (5-21, 3-6) on Saturday. After a more than four hour game, the Fighting Scots (8-16, 4-5) and Prairie Fire moved game two to Sunday.

Aidan Parkins (Monmouth, Illinois) led off the game with a double but a groundout and two strikeouts left him at third. Knox took the lead with four hits in the first against Roy Ralston (Macon, Illinois) before a strikeout left two on.

Ralston struck out five in a row and Monmouth got even in the fourth. Eric Campen (Washington, Illinois) singled and moved to second when Jace Wilkerson (East Peoria, Illinois) singled. With two outs and the bases loaded, Zach Almaguer (Monmouth, Illinois) singled to bring home Campen.

Parkins walked with one out in the fifth and two batters later, Wilkerson hit his sixth homer of the season and third this week. The 2-run blast put the Scots on top 3-1.

Knox left the bases loaded in the fifth and started the sixth with a double, walk and single. Dane Keeven (Edwardsville, Illinois).came out of the pen and got a double play as Knox scored. Another groundout ended the frame with Monmouth on top 3-2.

Knox took the lead in the eighth with a walk, double and 2-out single. After another walk, Keeven recorded a strikeout to strand two.

The Scots tied the game in the ninth. Jacob Blunck (Forsyth, Illinois) walked and gave way to pinch-runner Bobby Russell (Plainfield, Illinois). Almaguer singled and with two outs, Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) walked. Parkins beat out an infield single as Russell scored to tie the game but Monmouth left the bases loaded.

Knox loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the inning against Ryan Garofoli (Chicago, Illinois). A strikeout and a double play sent the game into extras.

The Scots left a runner on in the 10th and Will Baumgartner (Sycamore, Illinois) took over on the mound with two on and one out. A flyout and pop up extended the game. Neither team got a runner past first in the 11th and Monmouth left runners at first and second in the 12th. The Scots hit into a double play to end the 13th with two on and Knox left a runner at second in the bottom of the inning.

Wilkerson doubled with one out in the 14th and Clayton Matkovic (Sherrard, Illinois) singled. Aiden Scott (Carrollton, Texas) put the Scots on top 5-4 with a single and Logan Straube (Wheaton, Illinois) loaded the bases with a single. Almaguer walked for a 6-4 lead and Scott scored on a sacrifice fly by Hunter Wheat (Athens, Illinois) for a 3-run lead.

A hit batter, single and double scored a run for Knox to start the bottom of the inning. After a walk loaded the bases, Owen Wolfe (Galesburg, Illinois) took over on the mound. A hit batter scored a run and a single tied the game. On a grounder to third, Knox won 8-7 as the throw home got away.

Ralston allowed two runs on 10 hits over five innings. He struck out seven and walked three. Keevan allowed two runs on three hits over three innings while walking two and striking out four. Garofoli threw 1 1/3 shutout innings while walking three and striking out one. Baumgartner (1-1) took the loss as he allowed three earned runs on six hits and a walk in 3 2/3 innings while striking out two. Wolfe hit one and allowed one hit.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: The game is tied for the third longest in Monmouth history and the longest since a school-record 19-inning game against Grinnell in May 2009 ... Five of Wilkerson's six homers have come in MWC play and he has homered against all four teams the Scots have played ... Wilkerson had his third mult-RBI game in a row and sixth of the season in game one ... He also delivered his seventh multi-hit game of the season ... Parkins had his 10th multi-hit game while Scott had his ninth and Almaguer his fifth ... Ralston is the 12th pitcher in Monmouth history with at least 140 career strikeouts .... Baumgartner threw a career-high 3 2/3 innings ... The Scots lead the all-time series 207-159-2 including a 13-6 mark in the last six seasons ... The teams will attempt to play a double header on Sunday, starting at 11 a.m. if the weather is playable ... The next home game is a Noon DH against Cornell on Saturday, April 18.

Media Attachments

MC_KC_BB_41126.pdf

box score

Monmouth College

Baseball Drops 14 Inning Contest at Knox

Game Two Postponed to Sunday

Media Attachments

Monmouth College

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