Matkovic Sets Triples Record but Scots Fall at Augie

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (05/01/2024) — The Monmouth College baseball team lost a non-conference game at Augustana 13-8 on Tuesday night as sophomore Clayton Matkovic (Sherrard, Illinois) set a new single-season program record with his seventh triple. The Scots are now 16-18 overall and concluded the non-conference portion of the schedule at 7-7.

Monmouth jumped out to an early lead against the Vikings. Matkovic led off with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. With one out, Daniel Lummus (New Port Richey, Florida) singled and with two down, Aidan Parkins (Monmouth, Illinois) walked to load the bases. Alexander Dye (Albuquerque, New Mexico) cleared the bases with a hit into left-center for a 3-0 Monmouth lead .

Augustana plated four unearned runs against Tyler Sears (Bloomington, Illinois) in the bottom of the first. They pushed the lead to 5-3 before Derek Fitzgerald (Robertsville, Missouri) took over on the mound with the bases loaded and nobody out. The Vikings added a single and a sacrifice fly to lead 8-3.

The Scots rallied back in the fourth. Parkins was hit by a pitch and Dye singled before moving up on a wild pitch. Nate Reed (Chenoa, Illinois) reached on an error as Parkins scored and Aiden Scott (Carrollton, Texas) doubled home Dye. With two outs, Matkovic's seventh triple of the season not only broke the single-season record but also tied the game 8-8 as Reed and Scott scored.

The Vikings regained the lead in the bottom of the inning after two errors plated a pair of runs. They scored again in the sixth and two in the eighth to win 13-8 as Monmouth was kept off the scoreboard for the final five innings.

Sears took a no-decision with four earned runs allowed and one strikeout. Fitzgerald (0-1) took the loss despite not allowing an earned run over a season-high five innings. The senior struck out one and walked one. Gianni Gallichio (Yorkville, Illinois) allowed one hit over a shutout inning while striking out one. Luke Kelty (Spring Valley, Illinois) allowed two runs in 1/3 of an inning while Heath Hornke (Normal, Illinois) retired both batters he faced.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Matkovic had been tied for the triples record in a group that included head coach Alan Betourne He had two hits and leads the Scots in multi-hit games with 14 Matkovic also leads the Scots with 17 extra-base hits Lummus had two hits for the second straight game and has 13 multi-hit games on the season Dye had two hits and three RBI Guillermo has his eighth double, tied for third on the team behind Matkovic and Dye Fitzgerald threw five innings, one off his career-high from last season Gallichio tied his season and career high with one inning The Scots used 19 players in the game The Scots play on the road again on Thursday with a 3:30 p.m. start at Knox in a makeup game from the first week of April Monmouth hosts first-place Lawrence on Saturday and Sunday.