Scots Baseball Split Friday DH

Murphy drives in three, Fletcher wins opener

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (04/10/2021) — The Monmouth College baseball team split a home double header against Illinois College on Friday with an 8-3 win in the opener and a 6-5 setback in the nightcap. The split ends a five-game win streak and puts the Fighting Scots at 5-3 overall, 3-1 in Midwest Conference play.

Illinois College got on the board first with a run in the top of the first inning against Scots starter Addison Fletcher (Monmouth, Illinois). Peyton Phillis led off with a walk and eventually scored on a single by Bailey Reed.

Monmouth came out swinging against Griffin King in the bottom of the first. Matt Temaner (Gurnee, Illinois) led off with a double to the wall in center and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Mike Dato (Oswego, Illinois) was hit by a pitch and Sean Davis (Barrrington, Illinois) doubled home Temaner to tie the game. Justin Bost (Reynolds, Illinois) gave the Scots a 3-1 lead with a double, scoring Dato and Davis.

The Scots added on in the third against King. Shamus Murphy (Milan, Illinois) came to the plate with the bases loaded in his second straight start. He didn't hit a grand slam like he did on Saturday at Cornell but he singled to left as both Davis and Bost scored.

Leading 5-2 the Scots picked up two more runs against IC reliever Brian Kindt in the fifth inning. Murphy singled home Davis and Bost scored on an error. The Scots final run came in the seventh as Bost led off with a triple and scored on a wild pitch.

Fletcher (2-0) picked up the win as he allowed two runs on four hits over six innings. The right-hander walked four and struck out five. Cal Engebretson (Knoxville, Illinois) earned his first save of the season with three innings of work. He allowed one run on four hits and a walk while striking out two.

The Blue Boys scored in the top of the first inning in the nightcap as well. A single, stolen base and another single against starter Nathan Willig (Oswego, Illinois) gave IC a 1-0 lead.

The Scots responded in the second inning with the help of two IC errors. Alec Lyle (Farmer City, Illinois) walked and Jake Brewer (Gibson City, Illinois) reached on an error before they both advanced 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt. Jordan Ball (Moscow Mills, Missouri) doubled home both runners for a 2-1 Scots lead. Temaner reached on the second error of the inning and Logan Komater (Ottawa, Illinois) put Monmouth on top 3-1 with a sacrifice fly.

The Blue Boys scored one run each in the third and fourth innings to tie the game. Tim McNally (Paw Paw, Illinois) took over for the Scots on the mound in the fifth and struck out two as IC left the bases loaded. The visitors took a 4-3 lead in the sixth on a bases loaded walk before A.J. Hatlestad (New Windsor, Illinois) came out of the bullpen and got out of the inning.

Monmouth loaded the bases in the sixth but a 6-4-3 double play ended the threat. They loaded the bases again in the seventh and Lyle delivered a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game as Temaner scored. The Scots left two on base to end the seventh and the Blue Boys took the lead in the eighth. A hit batter, single and sac bunt put two in scoring position and a double from Daniel Burns put IC on top 6-4.

Monmouth rallied in the ninth but couldn't get even. Bost singled with one out and Lyle drew a walk. After a fielders' choice and a wild pitch but two in scoring position, Ruggles drove in Bost with an infield single but a groundout to second ended the game. Willig allowed three runs on six hits over four innings as he struck out four in a no-decision. Hatlestad (0-1) took the loss as three relievers combined to walk six and strike out six over five innings.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Murphy has 10 RBI in four starts this season...Ball leads the Scots with 11 RBI including nine in his last four games...Dato was hit by a pitch in both games and has a Scots career-record 26 HBP's...Davis, Bost and Murphy each had two hits in game one...Engebretson earned his first collegiate save in his third outing...Temaner, Bost and Davis had hits in both games...Nicholas Corman (Monmouth, Illinois) has not allowed a run in five innings this season...The teams combined to leave 29 runners on base in game two, 13 by the Scots...The Scots are next in action on Sunday at Noon against Knox College at Glasgow Field.