Baseball Drops Game One at Beloit, Game Two Suspended by Darkness

Monmouth will host Beloit on Monday afternoon

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (04/16/2023) — The Monmouth College baseball team lost 15-9 at first-place Beloit on Saturday The Fighting Scots (9-15, 4-8) led 9-8 before the Bucs scored seven unanswered in the last two innings. The second game of the double header was suspended by darkness and will resume in Monmouth on Monday.

Monmouth got on the board in the top of the first inning. Tyler Houck (Park Ridge, Illinois) singled and Todd Fowler (Chatham, Illinois) walked. With runners on the corners, Houck scored on a double play for a 1-0 Monmouth lead. Beloit took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run off Addison Fletcher (Monmouth, Illinois) and a RBI double.

The Scots got even immediately in the second. Logan Komater (Ottawa, Illinois) singled and Jack Kuethe (Pekin, Illinois) doubled. Nathan Reed (Chenoa, Illinois) singled home Komater for a 2-2 tie. In the third the Scots regained the lead. Fowler and Guillermo both singled to put two on base. Daniel Lummus (New Port Richey, Florida) doubled for a 3-2 lead and Guillermo scored on a balk. Nate Melvin (Ottawa, Illinois) singled home Reed for a 5-2 lead.

The Bucs tied the game with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the third. The game then went into a weather delay and when it resumed, Beloit hit another home run for a 6-5 lead. Toby Turnquist (Monmouth, Illinois) took over on the mound and an inherited runner scored on a RBI single before a balk gave Beloit an 8-5 lead.

Komater singled home Melvin in the fifth to cut the Scots deficit to 8-6. In the seventh inning, Komater led off with a double and Kuethe tied the game with his first home run of the season. Reed singled and stole second before scoring on a hit by Houck for a 9-8 Scots lead.

Beloit regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh with two runs off relievers Owen Wolfe (Galesburg, Illinois) and Carson Mohler (Temple Terrace, Florida). The go-ahead run scored on a passed ball as Beloit went on top 10-9. The Bucs scored five runs in the eighth for the 15-9 win.

Fletcher allowed seven runs on eight hits over three innings in a no-decision. He walked three, struck out eight and gave up three home runs. Turnquist allowed one run on two hits over three innings. He struck out five and walked three. Wolfe (0-3) took the loss as he allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits and a walk in of an inning. Mohler allowed five runs on four hits and a walk in 1 innings.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Saturday's game was the shortest outing for Fletcher this season as he'd gone at least five innings in his first six starts. In game one the teams combined for 32 hits. Monmouth had hits from eight of nine starts and RBI from six of the nine. Houck, Melvin, Komater and Kuethe all had two hits in the opener while Lummus and Reed had three. Monmouth is 19-17 all-time against Beloit but just 4-12 since 1997. The game between the two teams scheduled for Noon on Sunday has been moved to 3 p.m. Monday at Glasgow Field in Monmouth. That game will follow the resumed game which will pick up at 2 p.m. with Beloit leading 8-4 in the sixth inning.