Baseball Drops Pair on Sunday

Monmouth's late rally falls short in game two

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (03/20/2022) — The Monmouth College baseball team dropped both games of a double header against Dominican University on Sunday. The Scots dropped the opener 9-1 and left the tying run on third to end the nightcap with a 10-9 setback.

The Stars took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning with two singles, a hit batter and an error. They added on in the second inning with a one-out single and two-out double. Dominican broke the game open in the top of the third. A walk, double and a walk loaded the bases with one out. A sacrifice fly made it 4-0 before an error in right field plated two more runs and a hit batter made it 7-0. Cade Sharp (Aledo, Illinois) took over on the mound for Addison Fletcher (Monmouth, Illinois) and two more singles made it 9-0.

Monmouth got on the board in the bottom of the sixth. Raul Guillermo (Miami, Florida) led off with a double and scored on a double by Jackson Van Iwaarden (Ballwin, Missouri). A double play ended the rally and the Scots stranded a pair.

Dominican added a run in the ninth and finished off the 10-1 win. The Scots had six hits in the opener with two from Jack Kuethe (Pekin, Illinois). Sharp threw a career-high 6 innings of relief with one run allowed and five strikeouts. Fletcher (0-1) took the loss, the first of his college career, allowing four earned runs in 2 innings.

The Stars jumped out to an early lead in game two as well, plating six runs in the top of the first. A single and walk put two on with one out before Brandon Diedrich hit a 3-run homer to left field off Nathan Willig (Oswego, Illinois). Two singles and two wild pitches made it 4-0 and a fielder's choice gave Dominican a 5-0 lead. They capped the inning with a single, the sixth hit of the inning that gave the Stars a 6-0 lead.

A.J. Hatlestad (New Windsor, Illinois) took over on the mound for Willig in the second and set the Stars down in order. Monmouth got their first hit of the game in the second when Daniel Lummus (New Port Richey, Florida) doubled to center with one out. Anthony Ruggles (Aledo, Illinois) got the Scots on the board with a RBI single to center field. Singles from Tyler Houck (Park Ridge, Illinois) and Logan Komater (Ottawa, Illinois) loaded the bases.

Dominican scored a pair in the third inning. They started the frame with a walk and wild pitch before Hatlestad recorded a strikeout. A single put runners on the corners and another hit gave the Stars a 7-1 lead. With two outs, Hatlestad's pickoff throw got away at first base, scoring a runner from third for an 8-1 Dominican lead.

The Scots chipped away in the sixth inning against the Stars bullpen. Ruggles led off with a single and was forced at second on a fielder's choice by Komater. Nate Melvin (Ottawa, Illinois) doubled with two outs and Justin Bost (Reynolds, Illinois) tripled home both runners to cut the Dominican lead to 8-3. The Stars changed pitchers and got a strikeout to end the inning.

The Scots rallied in the eighth. Houck walked with one out and Komater singled. An error by the Stars loaded the bases and Bost singled home Houck to cut the deficit to 9-4. After a pitching change, the Scots scored two runs on a throwing error to bring the tying run to the plate with one out. Van Iwaarden walked to load the bases and Bost brought home a run with a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 9-7. An error at second base allowed Guiilermo to score and get the Scots within one run but the Stars got out of the inning with a groundout.

Dominican added a run in the top of the ninth on a single, error and wild pitch. Down 10-8, the Scots started the ninth with a walk by Houck. After a strikeout and a groundout the Scots had a runner on second with two outs. Bost doubled to left to drive in Houck and he advanced to third on a throwing error, putting the tying run 90 feet away. A strikeout ended the game with the Scots falling 10-9.

Willig (1-1) took the loss while Hatlestad gave the Scots six innings of relief work. Bost was 4-for-6 with four RBI in game two while Ruggles and Komater had two hits each and Houck drew three walks.

The Scots head into Midwest Conference play at home next weekend when they welcome Ripon College to Glasgow Field. The teams will play a double header on Saturday, starting at Noon, with a single game on Sunday at Noon.