Baseball Falls at IWU on Wednesday

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (04/10/2025) — The Monmouth College baseball team lost 13-3 at Illinois Wesleyan in a non-conference game on Wednesday night.. The Fighting Scots (9-15) return to Midwest conference action at home this weekend against Knox

The Scots left two on base in the first inning as Nate Reed (Chenoa, Illinois) walked and Alexander Dye (Albuquerque, New Mexico) singled. The Titans took the lead against Weslee Frame (Fairview, Illinois) in the second inning with five walks forcing in two runs.

Monmouth rebounded in the third inning with a 2-out rally. Reed walked again and Dye singled to center. Raul Guillermo (Miami, Florida) put the Scots on the board with a single to left and Clayton Matkovic (Sherrard, Illinois) walked to load the bases. Eric Campen (Washington, Illinois) put the Scots on top 3-2 with a single to left as both Dye and Guillermo scored.

Tyler Ithal (Mokena, Illinois) blanked the Titans in the third inning and Gianni Gallichio (Yorkville, Illinois) threw a hitless and scoreless fourth inning. Reed and Matkovic both walked in the fifth but the Scots left them on base as the lead stayed at 3-2.

Caleb Ochs (Royal, Illinois) took over on the mound in the fifth and allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases with nobody out. A sacrifice fly tied the game and IWU took the lead with a single. Another sacrifice fly made it 5-3 before a 2-run double gave the TItans a 5-run inning and a 7-3 lead.

The Titans scored five more in the sixth against Brandon Coats (Mapleton, Illinois). Three singles, two doubles and a walk put the hosts on top 12-3 going into the seventh inning.

Reed walked for a fourth time with one out in the seventh but the next two batters were retired. The TItans finished off the game with a run against Nick Villa (El Segundo, California) in the seventh. A double and two walks loaded the bases and a 2-out single gave the Titans the 13-3 run-rule win. Ochs (0-2) took the loss in relief.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Guillermo, who homered three times at IWU last year, had a single amd moved into a tie with Michael Blaesing for 6th on the career total bases list ... With 132 career games played, Guillermo moved into a tie for 9th with Caleb Ruyle and Ryan Crandall ... Reed tied a career-high with four walks as he also walked four times against Cornell on April 25, 2023 ... The four walks is tied for third for most walks in a game in school history ... Reed has 67 career walks and he moved past Jack Kuethe, Steve Ford, Chris Wheat and Jason Salmon on Wednesday to rank seventh in Monmouth history in free passes ... Dye had two of Monmouth's four hits ... All four hits were singles ... Monmouth pitchers set a new school record with 16 walks, breaking the record of 15 set less than two weeks ago at Augustana ... All six Monmouth pitchers had at least one walk and three had three or more ... WU leads the all-time series 21-15 and they have won seven straight including a 9-8 game in Bloomington last season ... Monmouth hosts Knox this weekend with a DH at Noon on Saturday and a single game at Noon on Sunday.