Baseball Swept in DH at Chicago

Monmouth loses opener on walk-off single

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (04/04/2022) — The Monmouth College baseball team led throughout most of game one on Sunday but ended up with a pair of Midwest Conference losses in their double header at Chicago. The Scots were walked-off in game one 4-3 and lost game two 4-0.

The Scots got on the board early in game one. With one out in the second, Jackson Van Iwaarden (Ballwin, Missouri) singled and Tyler Houck (Park Ridge, Illinois) singled with two outs. Logan Komater (Ottawa, Illinois) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Van Iwaarden and Houck both scored on an error to give the Scots a 2-0 lead.

Monmouth added on an inning later. Jack Kuethe (Pekin, Illinois) walked and moved to third on two straight wild pitches. With one out, Daniel Lummus (New Port Richey, Florida) gave the Scots a 3-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to right.

The game stayed 3-0 as Addison Fletcher (Monmouth, Illinois) held Chicago to one hit through seven innings. Monmouth lost a runner at the plate in the sixth inning, caught stealing and left a runner at second in the seventh.

Chicago got the leadoff runner on base in the eighth via error and put runners on the corners with a walk and wild pitch. A groundout scored their first run and a single made it 3-2 before Eli Herrera (Romeoville, Illinois) took over on the mound for Fletcher. He stranded the tying run with a pair of outs to keep the Scots on top.

An error started the bottom of the ninth as well and Chicago tied the game with consecutive singles. Cade Sharpe (Aledo, Illinois) entered the game with runners on second and third and one out. A single to left field gave the Maroons a 4-3 win with Herrera (1-2) taking the loss.

Chicago took the lead early in game two with a run in the first against A.J. Hatlestad (New Windsor, Illinois). The Scots got their first hit in the third inning with two singles but left runners at first and second. Chicago scored again in the third and fourth to take a 3-0 lead.

The Scots best chance came in the sixth. Nate Melvin (Ottawa, Illinois) led off with a single and stole second. A dropped third strike and a throwing error gave Monmouth runners on the corners and no outs. But two strikeouts and a flyout ended the threat as the Scots left a runner in scoring position for the third straight inning.

Chicago scored in the seventh against Nicholas Corman (Monmouth, Illinois) with a walk, two stolen bases and a sacrifice fly. The Scots didn't have a base runner in the final two innings, losing 4-0.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Fletcher threw a career-high 7 innings and only allowed one hit through the first sevenHe has gone at least six innings in 10 career starts, three this seasonAll 10 of those are quality starts (6+ IP & 3 ER or less)...His previous career high was seven innings, done multiple times in 2021Hatlestad allowed three runs over six innings in a quality start as he struck out sevenHouck, Komater, Melvin and Justin Bost (Reynolds, Illinois) had hits in both gamesHouck had two hits in game two while Van Iwaarden had two hits, including a double, in game oneMonmouth and Chicago have one game left to play after Saturday's DH was rained out and the teams played two on Sunday instead of the scheduled one gameThe Scots will play against Knox College on TuesdayThe game will take place at Galesburg High School, starting at approximately 7 p.m. after the Silver Streaks game.

Jackson

Van Iwaarden