Baseball Gets Bats Going Early in Sunday Win

Houck delivers four hits in 11-3 victory over Dominican

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (03/19/2023) — The Monmouth College baseball team got the bats going early as they knocked off Dominican University 11-3 on Sunday afternoon. The game was played at Augustana College and was originally scheduled for Saturday before a change due to weather.

After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first, the Scots got the bats going in the bottom of the inning. Tyler Houck (Park Ridge, Illinois) singled and scored when Logan Komater (Ottawa, Illinois) reached on an error off a sacrifice bunt. Nate Melvin (Ottawa, Illinois) walked and Komater scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Raul Guillermo (Miami, Florida). With two outs, Jack Kuethe (Pekin, Illinois) walked and Todd Fowler (Chatham, Illinois) gave Monmouth the lead with a single. Nathan Reed (Chenoa, Illinois) singled to bring in Kuethe for a 4-2 Scots lead.

The top of the order added another run in the second. Houck led off with a double and Komater's single gave the Scots a 5-2 lead. Kuethe led off the third with a single, moved up on a groundout and scored on an error for a 6-2 lead.

Dominican scored a run in the fourth inning and Jeff Garrett (Aledo, Illinois) gave way to Cade Sharp (Aledo, Illinois) on the mound in the fifth. Sharp kept the Stars off the board and Monmouth added on in the seventh inning. Guillermo and Christian Centeno (Miami, Florida) both singled in the seventh and Kuethe walked. Guillermo was forced at the plate before Reed walked to bring in Centeno for a 7-3 lead.

Houck singled to start the Scots eighth inning and with one out, Melvin reached on an error. Guillermo walked and Centeno tripled to clear the bases and put Monmouth on top 10-3. Kuethe's sacrifice fly scored Centeno for an 11-3 lead and the final run of the game.

Sharp (1-1) picked up the win with three shutout innings as he allowed one hit in relief. Garrett allowed three runs on seven hits over four innings while striking out five. Tim McNally (Paw Paw, Illinois) threw two shutout innings to finish the game with two strikeouts and one hit allowed.

Houck led the offense with four hits from the leadoff spot and he scored three runs. Komater and Centeno both had two hits. Centeno drove in three runs. Komater stole two bases and Reed had two RBI

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Last year Dominican won both games of a doubleheader at MonmouthThe Scots are 3-4 against the Stars since the start of the 2018 seasonThe game against Buena Vista, scheduled for this weekend was canceled and will be replaced with a game at Augustana on May 2The Scots are next in action on Saturday when they start Midwest Conference play with a Noon double header at Ripon..

Christian

Centeno