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Baseball Falls to Grinnell at MWC Tournament; Game Two Halted by Darkness

Scots and Bucs will resume Saturday in 8th Inning

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (05/09/2026) — The Monmouth College baseball team dropped the opening game of the MWC Tournament 16-6 to Grinnell on Friday. The elimination game against Beloit was suspended by darkness with the Scots trailing 6-4 in the eighth inning. It will resume on Saturday morning with the winner then facing Illinois College in another elimination game.

The Scots got going right away as Aidan Parkins (Monmouth, Illinois) led off with a single and stole second base with one out. Clayton Matkovic (Sherrard, Illinois) singled to put runners on the corners and Parkins was out at the plate on a fielders' choice by Jace Wilkerson (East Peoria, Illinois). Eric Campen (Washington, Illinois) walked to load the bases and Jacob Blunck (Forsyth, Illinois) gave the Scots a 2-0 lead with a single.

Roy Ralston (Macon, Illinois) struck out three in the first inning but the Pioneers got even in the second. After a leadoff single, Ralston got two straight outs but then he walked the next four batters to force home two runs and hit a batter as Grinnell took a 3-2 lead. Another walk forced home a fourth run before Dane Keeven (Edwardsville, Illinois) got out of the inning.

Grinnell broke the game open in the third as the Scots committed four errors. The first run scored on an error during a rundown on a double steal. A wild pitch made it 6-2, and an infield error added a run. Grinnell made it 8-2 on an errant pickoff throw and a double made it 9-2. After a wild pitch, another double made it 10-2 and a sacrifice fly brought home the seventh run of the inning. Owen Alford (Hopedale, Illinois) took over on the mound and another error put runners on the corners. A double brought home a pair of runs before the Scots got out of the frame down 13-2.

The Scots got the offense back on track in the fourth. Hunter Wheat (Athens, Illinois) singled with one out and Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) walked. Parkins picked up his second hit of the game to load the bases. Aiden Scott (Carrollton, Texas) singled home two runs, putting runners on the corners. Matkovic drove in a run with a single and Blunck drove in a run with a 2-out single, cutting the Pioneers lead to 13-6.

The Scots didn't threaten the next four innings and Grinnell led 14-6 going into the bottom of the eighth. A leadoff homer started the inning and two on base and one out, Blake Sierens (Sherrard, Illinois) took over on the mound. A wild pitch and a single ended the game with the Pioneers winning 16-6 on the mercy rule.

Ralston (2-6) took the loss as he allowed four runs on two hits and five walks over 1 2/3 innings while striking out two. Keeven allowed one earned run on five hits in one inning. Alford allowed three earned runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings and Sierens gave up a hit to the only batter he faced.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: All nine hits in game one were singles ... Parkins has 19 multi-hit games and Matkovic has 14 ... Alford threw a career-high 4 2/3 innings in game one..Matkovic is the sixth player in school history with 500 career at-bats ... He moved into second on the career games played list with 142 ... Parkins tied Logan Komater for ninth on the career stolen base list with 21 ... Ralston moved into a tie with M Club Hall of Famer Dan Dunn for sixth on the single-season strikeout list with 78 ... Monmouth is in the MWC tournament for the second year in a row ... They also went back-to-back in 2018 and 2019 ... The Scots are 4-2 all-time against Grinnell in the MWC Tournament with the teams last meeting in 2011 ... Monmouth leads the all-time series 147-71 and have won the season series two years in a row.

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