Scots Baseball Sweep Cornell Saturday

Bell drives in seven with five hits in DH

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (04/04/2021) — The Monmouth College Fighting Scots baseball team went on the road and swept a Midwest Conference double header from Cornell College on Saturday. Monmouth (4-2, 2-0) won the opener 12-10 in 10 innings and took the nightcap 11-7.

"We played well for two games today," said head coach Alan Betourne. "Our bats were hot and we had good approaches at the plate, extending at-bats and getting deep into counts."

The Scots got on the board in the top of the fourth. Sean Davis (Barrington, Illinois) singled and Alec Lyle (Farmer City, Illinois) followed with a single. A sac bunt moved both runners up and with two down Jordan Ball (Moscow Mills, Missouri) tripled to give the Scots a 2-0 lead.

Monmouth used a big fifth inning to extend the lead to 7-0. Logan Komater (Ottawa, Illinois), Mike Dato (Oswego, Illinois) and Justin Bost (Reynolds, Illinois) all singled to load the bases. Komater scored on an error and with two outs Shamus Murphy (Milan, Illinois) hit a grand slam to put the Scots up seven.

The Rams scored three off Addison Fletcher (Monmouth, Illinois) in the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff walk and three hits. They added a run against reliever Jeff Garrett (Aledo, Illinois) in the sixth to cut the Scots lead to 7-4.

Monmouth put three more on the board in the seventh. Jake Brewer (Gibson City, Illinois) walled and Thomas Witty (Northbrook, Illinois) ran for him, advancing to second on a wild pitch. Witty sored on a single by Ball before Matt Temaner (Gurnee, Illinois) walked. Komater doubled home two to give the Scots a 10-4 lead at the stretch.

The Rams scored once in the seventh and tied the game with a five-run eighth in which the Scots pitchers walked five batters and had a pick-off throwing error.

"We know Cornell is always going to fight so no lead is safe and that showed," said Betourne. "We easily could have been down on ourselves but we supported each other and pulled it out."

Davis led off the top of the 10th with a walk and Lyle attempted to sacrifice him to second. Davis came around to score and Lyle reached third on a throwing error by the Rams on the bunt as Monmouth took an 11-10 lead. Murphy singled home Lyle for a 12-10 lead and the Scots close out the opening game with two Rams left on base.

Fletcher left with a 7-3 lead but took a no-decision. He allowed three runs on three hits over five innings with three walks and six strikeouts. Nicholas Corman (Monmouth, Illinois) picked up the win (1-0) with three innings of relief in which he allowed an unearned run and struck out two.

The Rams scored in the first inning of game two and Monmouth tied it 1-1 in the third on a sacrifice fly by Komater. Dato led off the fourth inning with a solo homer to put Monmouth on top 2-1. Davis walked, Bost singled and Brewer gave the Scots a 3-1 lead with a single and two more scored on errors by Cornell for a 5-1 advantage.

The Scots led 5-3 going into the sixth. Brewer walked with two outs and Anthony Ruggles (Aledo, Illinois) singled before Ball walked. Komater walked to force in a run and another Cornell error plated Ruggles for a 7-3 Monmouth lead.

The Scots put the game away in the top of the seventh. Bost singled with one out and Lyle walked. An error loaded the bases and Ruggles walked to score Bost. Ball cleared the bases with a triple down the right-field line for an 11-3 Scots lead.

Starting pitcher Nathan Willig (Oswego, Illinois) picked up the win (1-0) with seven innings of work. He allowed three earned runs and struck out four. Trevor Davis (Waterloo, Illinois) threw the final two innings allowing two runs on three hits while striking out three.

"We had the mindset in game two to win every inning," said Betourne. "All around some good baseball after a long time off. I'm proud of the fight in our guys."

Monmouth Moments: The Scots hadn't played since winning both in a double header against Simpson College on March 13Thewin in game one was the first collegiate win for CormanKomater also had three hits and two RBI in the March 13 game against Simpson giving him six hits and four RBI in a two-game span Ball had a career-high four hits in the opener and a career-high four RBI in the nightcapHe drove in seven runs on the day with two triples and a doubleMurphy's grand slam was the first for the Scots since Grant Myers hit one on April 17, 2018 against Grinnell Murphy also homered on March 13 against Simpson and leads the Scots with two on the seasonThe five RBI are a career-high for MurphyDato hit his 15th career home run, tied for eighth on the Scots career list, three behind the recordHe was also hit by a pitch for a record 24th timeThe Scots next play Saturday at home against Illinois College with a Noon doubleheader.