Lummus Homers But Scots Fall at Grinnell

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (03/29/2024) — The Monmouth College baseball team lost at Grinnell 13-6 on Friday in the first game of a 3-game series. The Scots (9-6, 2-1) and Pioneers will play two games in Iowa on Saturday.

The Scots jumped on top in the first inning as Daniel Lummus (New Port Richey, Florida) hit a solo home run with two outs. The homer is the first collegiate home run for Lummus as he pushed his hit streak to 15 games.

Grinnell scored four off starting pitcher Cade Sharp (Aledo, Illinois) in the second. The Scots pulled one back in the third. Clayton Matkovic (Sherrard, Illinois) walked with one out and Tyler Houck (Park Ridge, Illinois) was hit by a pitch. Lummus singled to load the bases and Matkovic scored on a groundout by Guillermo for a 4-2 game.

Grinnell pushed the lead to 8-2 after five innings. The Scots rallied top six with Alexander Dye (Albuquerque, New Mexico) getting things started with a walk. Dye scored on a double by Nate Reed (Chenoa, Illinois) and Jacob Blunck (Forsyth, Illinois) walked. Matkovic drove in Reed with a single and Blunck came around to score on a groundout by Houck to cut the deficit to 8-5.

Grinnell scored twice off reliever Roy Ralston (Macon, Illinois) in the sixth. The Scots got another run in the seventh as Reed drove home Aidan Parkins (Monmouth, Illinois) with a sacrifice fly. Grinnell answered that run in the bottom of the inning with three of their own to lead 13-6.

The Scots put a runner on in the ninth but didn't score. Sharp (2-2) took the loss after allowing five earned runs in five innings.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Lummus extended his hit streak to 15 games with three hits. He has two straight 3-hit games and is 8-for-19 (.421) in conference play. Dye and Reed both had doubles. Reed drove in two runs. Dye and Blunck drew two walks each. Grinnell has won eight straight in the series dating back to a Monmouth home win on May 2, 2021. The Scots won the 2021 season series 4-2 but the Pioneers swept the 2022 and 2023 season series. The Scots and Pioneers will play a doubleheader on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m.