Baseball Splits Season Opening DH at Blackburn

Guillermo, Reed homer in opener

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (03/04/2024) — The Monmouth College baseball team opened their 2024 season Sunday with a 7-inning double header at Blackburn College, falling 10-5 and winning 11-4. Full box scores were not provided by the host.

Toby Turnquist (Monmouth, Illinois) started the opener and Blackburn took the lead on a first inning solo home run. Raul Guillermo III (Miami, Florida) tied the game in the top of the second with a solo home run. Two batters later, Nate Reed (Chnoa, Illinois) put the Scots up 2-1 with a homer.

Blackburn regained the lead in the bottom of the second with two hits and an error. Monmouth pulled even in the fourth as Aiden Parkins (Monmouth, Illinois) delivered a sacrifice fly to score Guillermo. The Scots went on top 4-3 in the fifth as Daniel Lummus (New Port Richey, Florida) drove home Clayton Matkovic (Sherrard, Illinois) with a sacrifice fly.

A leadoff homer in the bottom of the fifth tied the game for the Beavers. They added five more runs in the inning to lead 9-4. Tyler Houck (Park Ridge, Illinois) walked with the bases loaded in the sixth but the Scots left the bags full. Blackburn added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning and won 10-5.

Turnquist (0-1) took the loss as he struck out six over 4 innings. Brandon Coats (Mapleton, Illinois) struck out two in 1 innings of relief.

Game two was scoreless into the third. Lummus reached on an error, Guillermo singled and Parkins drove in Lummus with a single. Reed walked and a wild pitch brought home Guillermo for a 2-0 Scots lead. AJ Freeman (Rock Island, Illinois) walked and two runs scored on an error. Another error scored Freeman for a five-run frame and a 5-0 lead.

Guillermo walked with one out in the fourth and Parkins reached on an error. Reed singled home both runners for a 7-0 Monmouth lead. Blackburn hit two solo homers in the bottom of the inning but the Scots responded. Lummus singled with one out and moved to second on a pickoff error. Guillmero singled for an 8-2 lead, Parkins reached on an error and Reed was hit by a pitch. Aiden Scott (Carrollton, Texas) drove in Guillermo with a sacrifice fly for a 9-2 lead.

Leading 9-3, the Scots added two more in the sixth. Gabe Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) walked with one out and moved to third on a passed ball. He scored on a wild pitch before Houck walked. Two more walks loaded the bases and Lummus scored on another passed ball for an 11-3 Monmouth lead.

Cade Sharp (Aledo, Illinois) started on the mound and picked up the win as he allowed three ris over 4 innings while striking out four. Nick Villa (El Segundo, Illinois) struck out four over 1 innings in his debut with Ethan Zaayenga (Tremont, Illinois) struck out one and allowed a run in his debut inning.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Six players made their Monmouth debut on Sunday. Guillermo had two hits in both games. He also had a RBI in both games. Guillermo has nine career home runsReed and Lummus had hits in both games while Reed and Parkins had RBI in both games. Turnquist made his first collegiate start after coming out of the bullpen 11 times in 2023. Sharp won three games in both 2022 and 2023. Sunday was his ninth career start. Monmouth leads the al-time series against Blackburn 9-2. Sunday was the first time Monmouth played in Carlinville since 2014. Monmouth is 4-5 in season openers under coach Betourne and this is just the second time in those nine years they have played games before going to Florida over spring break. The Scots are off until Saturday when they play a double header against Northwestern (MN) in Fort Pierce, Florida. The Scots are scheduled to play nine games in Florida between March 9 and 15. The home opener is Wednesday, March 20 against Blackburn.