Scots Baseball Drops Pair in Final Inning on Sunday

Monmouth led Ripon late in both games

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (03/27/2023) — The Monmouth College baseball team lost a pair of hard-fought Midwest Conference games on Sunday, dropping both contests to Ripon in the final at-bat. Playing at a neutral site on turf field, Monmouth lost the opener 5-4 in 10 innings and then lost 12-11 as the Red Hawks scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth. The third game from the series, postponed on Saturday, will be made up at a later date.

With the temperature in the mid 40s, the Fighting Scots and Red Hawks settled into a pitchers duel in the opener at Woodside Sports Complex in Mauston, Wisconsin. Monmouth's Addison Fletcher (Monmouth, Illinois) and Ripon's Brock Warren matched zeroes for the first four innings. Ripon took the lead in the fifth on a bases loaded walk and added two more on an error for a 3-0 lead.

Monmouth got on the board in the seventh inning. Logan Komater (Ottawa, Illinois) led off with a a single and he scored on a one-out double by Raul Guillermo III (Miami, Florida).

The Scots took the lead in the eighth after Ripon went to the bullpen. Toby Turnquist (Monmouth, Illinois) led off with a double and pinch-hitter Reid Stufflebeem (Galesburg, Illinois) singled to put runners on the corners. Todd Fowler (Chatham, Illinois) brought home pinch-runner Alex Keenan (Sherman, Illinois) to get the Scots within one run. Tyler Houck (Park Ridge, Illinois) singled and with two down, Nate Melvin (Ottawa, Illinois) tied the game with a single. With Guillermo at the plate, Melvin stole second while Houck stole home for a 4-3 Monmouth lead.

Cade Sharp (Aledo, Illinois) took over on the mound for Fletcher and kept the Red Hawks off the board in the eighth. The Red Hawks led off the ninth with a single and a wild pitch and sac bunt put a runner on third with one out. Another wild pitch tied the game before the Scots got out of the inning with two runners on base.

Monmouth didn't get a base runner in the top of the 10th. A walk from reliever Owen Wolfe (Galesburg, Illinois) started the bottom of the inning and a sac bunt put the winning run in scoring position. After an intentional walk, Ripon won the game 5-4 with a single.

Fletcher allowed one earned run on five hits over seven innings while striking out five. Sharp allowed one run on one hit over two innings and Wolfe (0-1) took the loss with 1/3 of an inning.

GAME 2

Monmouth jumped out to an early lead in game two. Komater reached on an error with one out and Guillermo walked with two down. Another error loaded the bases and Stufflebeem cleared the bases with a double for a 3-0 lead. Jack Kuethe (Pekin, Illinois) singled to right to give the Scots a 4-0 lead.

Houck singled with one out in the second and Melvin's single gave the Scots runners on the corners. Guillermo gave the Scots a 5-0 lead with a single before being thrown out at second to end the inning.

Ripon got on the board against Jeff Garrett (Aledo, Illinois) in the third but the Scots still led 5-1 going into the fifth. Melvin led off with a single and Guillermo launched his first home run of the season for a 7-1 Monmouth lead. Christian Centeno (Miami, Florida) walked and Stufflebeem singled. Kuethe singled for an 8-1 lead and Fowler walked to load the bases. Houck doubled with two outs to score Stufflebeem and Kuethe as the Scots took a 10-1 lead.

Ripon chipped away with three runs in the bottom of the fifth and three more in the sixth as Jakob Brokaw (Andalusia, Illinois) took over for Garrett. Leading 10-7, the Scots got some insurance in the seventh when freshman Clayton Matkovic (Sherrard, Illinois) hit his first home run of the season for an 11-7 lead.

Tim McNally (Paw Paw, Illinois) took over on the mound in the eighth and Ripon started the inning with two walks. A one-out double scored two and after a wild pitch, a single cut Monmouth's lead to 11-10. Riley Jennings (Knoxville, Illinois) came out of the bullpen and got an out before a double put two in scoring position. An error scored both runners and gave Ripon a 12-11 lead.

Turnquist led off the ninth inning with a single to put the tying run on base for the Scots. However, three straight outs in the air kept the runner at first base as Ripon won the game.

Garrett allowed five runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings in the no-decision. Despite not allowing an earned run, Jennings (0-1) took the loss.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Houck and Guillermo both had four hits in the second game and five hits on the day. Houck stole bases in both games. Melvin, Turnquist and Stufflebeem had hits in both games. Monmouth had 17 hits in the second game. Guillermo has a nine-game hit streak and he's had a RBI in three-straight games. Houck is 9-for-15 in the last three games. The Scots are scheduled to play five more Midwest Conference games this week. They will play road double header at Knox on Wednesday with a Noon start. Monmouth will play their home opener on Saturday with a Noon double header against Chicago and then host Chicago for a single game at Noon on Sunday.