Baseball Split Season-Opening Doubleheader in Indiana

Dye, Lummus collect four hits each on Sunday

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (02/24/2025) — The Monmouth College baseball team opened their season with two neutral site games in Westfield, Indiana on Sunday. The Scots rallied to win the nightcap 6-3 over DePauw after losing the opener 12-6 to Mount Union.

The Purple Raiders got a 3-run homer in the first inning off Monmouth starting pitcher Ethan Zaayenga (Tremont, Illinois). They added another run in the third and two more in the fifth to lead 6-0.

Monmouth got the bats going in the fifth against a Mount Union reliever. Daniel Lummus (New Port Richey, Florida) reached on an error and Eric Campen (Washington, Illinois) singled. Alexander Dye (Albuquerque, New Mexico) doubled home Lummus and Campen scored on a double by Raul Guillermo (Miami, Florida). After a pitching change. Nate Reed (Chenoa, Illinois) singled home a run and Guillermo scored on a double play to cut the deficit to 6-4.

The Purple Raiders answered with two runs off Brandon Coats (Mapleton, Illinois) in the sixth. The Scots pulled a run back in the seventh as Dye doubled and scored on a single by Reed. Down 10-5, the Scots scored again in the eighth as an error plated Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois). Mount Union added two runs in the top of the ninth for the 12-6 win.

Zaayenga (0-1) struck out five over 4 1/3 innings while Coats struck out one batter in 3 2/3 innings. Freshman Caleb Ochs (Royal, Illinois) gave up a run in one inning in his college debut.

GAME TWO

The Scots jumped out to an early lead in game two against DePauw. Lummus led off the top of the first with a single and stole second. With one out, Dye singled to put the Scots on top 1-0.

Starting pitcher Toby Turnquist (Monmouth, Illinois) kept the Tigers off the board until the fourth when they tied the game with a walk, double and groundout.

Roy Ralston (Macon, Illinois) took over on the mound in the sixth and kept the game tied. IN the seventh, he issued two straight walks and gave way to Owen Wolfe (Galesburg, Illinois). The Tigers took the lead on a walk and 2-run single before the Scots got out of the inning.

Down 3-1, the Scots pulled even in the eighth. Zach Almaguer (Monmouth, Illinois) led off witha walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Jacob Blunck (Forsyth, Illinois). With one out and a runner on second, Lummus tripled and he tied the game on a wild pitch.

.With one out in the ninth Aidan Parkins (Monmouth, Illinois) drew a walk and Aiden Scott (Carrollton, Texas) doubled him home for a 4-3 lead. Campen was hit by a pitch and Blunck singled home Scott for a 5-3 lead. Blunck stole second and Campen scored on a single by Zeigler-Harris for a 3-run Monmouth lead.

Nick Villa (El Segundo, California) slammed the door in the ninth for his first save of the season. The lefty gave up one single and ended the game with a strikeout. Wolfe (1-0) picked up the win with three strikeouts in two shutout innings. Turnquist struck out four ald allowed one run over five innings.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Two Scots, Almaguer and Ochs, made their collegiate debuts on Sunday ... Lummus, Dye, Parkins, and Zeigler-Harris had hits in both games ... Dye had RBI in both games ... Lummus and Campen scored in both gamesReed had three hits and two RBI in the opener ... Lummus and Dye had two hits in both games while Lummus also walked and was hit by a pitchMonmouth had five doubles against Mount Union, two by Dye /// They had one double and one triple against DePauw ... The Scots committed just two errors on the day ...Villa led the Scots with three saves last seasonWolfe returned from injury and pitched for the first time since March 14, 2024 in Florida when he also picked up a win in relief ... Dating back to last season, Turnquist has gone at least five innings in four straight starts ... This was the first-ever meeting between the Scots and Purple RaidersMonmouth last played DePauw in 2008 and are 1-3 all-time against the Tigers ... The Scots played four games next weekend against Illinois Tech, two on Saturday and two on Sunday, all scheduled to be played in Bloomington, Illinois.