Baseball Falls at Cornell on Sunday

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (04/19/2026) — The Monmouth College baseball team lost the game and series at Cornell on Sunday with an 11-6 setback. The Fighting Scots (11-19, 7-8) are in fifth place, one game behind Lawrence, with six games left in the MWC season. Monmouth hosts first place Grinnell for three games next weekend before a 3-game trip to Lawrence.

Cornell got on the board in the first inning against Brandon Coats (Mapleton, Illinois) with a leadoff home run. A walk, wild pitch, groundout and single made it 2-0 before a double added another run. With two outs, the Rams added another run on a walk and RBI single.

The Scots got the bats going in the second inning as Aiden Scott (Carrollton, Texas).led off with a single and Eric Campen (Washington, Illinois) was hit by a pitch. Jacob Blunck (Forsyth, Illinois) loaded the bases with a single and Zach Almaguer (Monmouth, Illinois) drove in a run with a single. Hunter Wheat (Athens, Illinois) reached on an error as Campen scored and Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) brought home a run with a groundout.

Down 5-3, the Scots got even in the third. Scott walked with one out and Blunck singled to put runners on the corners. Blunck stole second and both runners scored as Almaguer reached on an error.

Cornell regained the lead in the third with a single, stolen base and another single. Clayton Rentschler (Riverton, Illinois) came out of the bullpen and got out of the inning with a groundout. Cornell extended the lead in the fourth with four unearned runs. An error started the inning before a single, double and walk loaded the bases. Another error and a double put the Rams on top 10-5.

Down 11-5, Monmouth rallied in the eighth. Blunck singled with one out and Wheat doubled. Logan Straube (Wheaton, Illinois) pinch hit with two outs and singled home Blunck. However, a caught stealing ended the inning with the Scots down 11-6.

Aidan Parkins (Monmouth, Illinois) led off the ninth with a single but was caught stealing second.
Clayton Matkovic (Sherrard, Illinois) walked and Jace Wilkerson (East Peoria, Illinois) singled but the game ended on a pair of fly outs.

Coats (2-4) took the loss as he allowed six runs on nine hits over 2 2/3 innings with three walks and two strikeouts. Rentschler didn't allow an earned run as Cornell collected four hits and a walk in 2 1/3 innings. Owen Alford (Hopedale, Illinois) allowed one run on two hits in two innings and Owen Wolfe (Galesburg, Illinois) threw a shutout frame with a walk.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: With two hits each, Parkins now has 14 multi-hit games and Scott has 11 ... Scott has 120 career hitsMatkovic moved into the top 10 on the career at bats list with 466 ... He also moved into a tie for 16th on the career hits list with 140 and he's tied for fifth with 73 career walks ... Blunck had three hits and scored three runs, both season highs ... He also had three hits and scored three runs against Kenyon on March 13, 2024 ... Campen was hit by a pitch twice ... Parkins and Wheat both had doublesMonmouth leads the all-time series 107-45-2 ... Monmouth had won the season series three of the last four years with a 3-game sweep in 2025 ... The Scots host Grinnell next weekend with a DH at Noon on Saturday and a single game at Noon on Sunday.

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CCMCBB30.pdf

box score

Monmouth College

Baseball Falls at Cornell on Sunday

Media Attachments

Monmouth College

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