Guillermo Homers as Coats, Turnquist Shut Down IC Bats

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (04/23/2025) — The Monmouth College baseball team won their fourth game in a row as they knocked off Illinois College 6-3 at home on Wednesday. The Fighting Scots (14-17, 9-6) are now in a tie for third place in the MWC as they prepare to host first-place Beloit this weekend.

"This was a big win for us, must win in fact," said head coach Alan Betourne. "They already clinched the series from us but heading into the final six games of conference play we had to get this one."

IC took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a solo home run off Monmouth starter Brandon Coats (Mapleton, Illinois). Coats bounced back to strand the bases loaded after a single, walk and error.

With two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Alexander Dye (Albuquerque, New Mexico) singled down the left-field line. Raul Guillermo (Miami, Florida) put the Scots on top 2-1 with an opposite field home run, his eighth of the season.

Leading 2-1, Monmouth added on in the third. Nate Reed (Chenoa, Illinois) was hit by a pitch with one out and Dye singled to left. After a wild pitch, IC internationally walked Guillermo and Clayton Matkovic (Monmouth, Illinois) worked a walk to force in a run, Aidan Parkins (Monmouth, Illinois) delivered a sacrifice fly, scoring Dye for a 4-1 lead.

"The home run by Raul was huge and set the tone." said Betourne. "It was a good sign we were able to bounce back from a couple mistakes and get the offense going."

IC scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fourth inning to pull within one run. Monmouth loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning as Hunter Wheat (Athens, Illinois) singled, Gabe Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) bunted for a single and Daniel Lummus (New Port Richey, Florida) reached on an error. But the BlueBoys changed pitchers and struck out the next three batters to escape the inning.

"Coats was great and he battled with some strong innings for us," said Betourne. "We had a good plan for the day and Coats going five set us up and he got a lot of ground balls."

Lefty Toby Turnquist (Monmouth, Illinois) made his first relief appearance of the season to start the sixth. He struck out the side and kept the Scots on top 4-3.

Reed doubled off the wall with two outs and Dye singled to left. With runners on the corners, Guillermo made it 5-3 with a single to left and Matkovic drove in Dye with a single.

Turnquist cruised from there, finishing the game with the final nine outs. He picked up his first save since 2023 with four shutout innings, allowing just two hits while striking out four.

"Toby had some really efficient innings and we let him ride it out," said Betourne. "It sets us up for a big weekend and we will be ready and hope to see a full house and a lot of support for Senior Day on Saturday."

Coats allowed one earned run over five innings as he struck out three and allowed six hits. He picked up the win to move to 2-0 on the season.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Guillermo moved past Grant Myers for eighth on the career hits list and into a tie with Ryan Priola for seventh with 158 ... Guillermo has a career-high eight home runs this season, tied for fifth on the single-season list ... He also has a career-high 39 RBI this season, tied for third on the single-season list ... His 79 total bases this season are tied for 11th on the single-season listGuillermo has a 9-game hit streak ... Reed is tied for seventh on the career hit by pitch list with 17 ... Lummus moved into the top 10 in Monmouth history in at-bats ... Turnquist is now tied for 16th on the career games pitched list with 33 ... He has two career savesThe Scots lead the all-time series 116-77 ... Monmouth has won four in a row at home against IC, dating back to April 30, 2022 ... Monmouth hosts Beloit in a Noon double header on Saturday with Senior Day ceremonies at 11:45 a.m.