Scots Score 15 in Opener, Split Saturday DH in Florida

Guillermo Drives in Four in Opener

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (03/09/2024) — The Monmouth College baseball team split their first two games of the Florida trip on Saturday with a 15-10 win over Northwestern (Minn.) in the opener and a 7-6 loss in the nightcap. The Scots (2-2) will play two games on Sunday in Fort Pierce, Florida.

"The first game was all over the place and we had opportunities early." said head coach Alan Betourne. "Guys picked each other up and that's what we want, more team baseball this year."

Monmouth struck first in the top of the first inning. Clayton Matkovic (Sherrard, Illinois) struck out but reached on a throwing error by the catcher. After Matkovic stole second, Tyler Houck (Park Ridge, Illinois) reached on a dropped third strike wild pitch with Matkovic moving to third. Daniel Lummus (New Port Richey, Florida) walke to load the bases. With two outs, Alexander Dye (Albuquerque, New Mexico) walked to score Matkovic for the 1-0 lead.

The Eagles scored three in the bottom of the first against Monmouth starter Toby Turnquist (Monmouth, Illinois). They collected four hits and a walk and added the final run on a wild pitch. The Eagles added on four in the second with a walk and four extra-base hits. Brandon Coats (Mapleton, Illinois) relieved Turnquist and another double gave UNW an 8-1 lead.

Monmouth got on the board again in the fourth. With one out, Houck and Lummus drew back-to-back walks. Houck scored on an error before Lummus and Raul Guillermo (Miami, Florida) moved up on a wild pitch. Aidan Parkins (Monmouth, Illinois) walked to load the bases but the Scots were not able to add on.

The Scots loaded the bases in the fifth on a single by Aiden Scott (Carrollton, Texas), a walk by Matkovic and Houck was hit by a pitch. Scott scored on an error as Lummus reached and Guillermo doubled to the wall in center to clear the bases. Down 8-6, Parkins singled to right and Dye singled home Guillermo. Nate Reed (Chenoa, Illinois) was hit by a pitch and Freeman walked to bring home Parkins and tie the game. Scott cleared the bases with a triple for an 11-8 Monmouth lead. With two outs and two on, Lummus doubled home Scott and Guillermo walked to load the bases again. Parkins walked to make it 13-8 before the 11-run inning ended.

Owen Wolfe (Galesburg, Illinois) took over on the mound in the fifth and kept the Eagles off the scoreboard. Monmouth added two more in the seventh as Lummus tripled home Houck and Guillermo drove in Lummus with a groundout. The Eagles plated two in the seventh but Wolfe got a strikeout to end the game with Monmouth winning 15-10.

Coats (1-0) picked up the win in relief with 2 shutout innings as he allowed two hits and struck out one. Wolfe earned the save with three innings as he struck out a career-high five.

"Coats being a rookie and coming in showed what he can do for us," said Betourne. "Wolfe pushed through for us as a veteran and got it done in the end."

GAME TWO

The Eagles struck first in game two as they plated two in the top of the first against Monmouth starter Cade Sharp (Aledo, Illinois). Four straight hits with one out led to a 2-0 Eagles lead.

Monmouth got on the board in the bottom of the second. Guillermo led off with a double and moved to third on a single by Parkins. Dye hit a ground ball that went as an error, allowing Guillermo to score. Reed grounded into a fielder's choice but a wild throw plated Dye and moved Reed all the way to third. Scott lined out to the pitcher who was knocked down on the catch before throwing wild to third as Reed scored for a 3-2 Monmouth lead.

Sharp induced a bases loaded 6-4-3 double play to escape the third and stranded a runner at third in the fourth. Monmouth added on bottom four as Dye and Reed singled to put two on base with nobody out. Scott sacrificed and Alex Kindred (Atlanta, Illinois) delivered a RBI single for a 4-2 lead. The Eagles tied the game in the fifth with a hit batter, walk, single, sacrifice fly and an error.

"A lot of fight in us in game two to execute and get timely hitting," said Betourne. "They snagged the momentum on us early and we bounced back with some fight."

Monmouth immediately regained the lead. Guillermo walked with two outs and Parkins tripled to the gap in left-center for a 5-4 Scots advantage. Roy Ralston (Macon, Illinois) took over on the mound in the sixth and got two quick outs before hitting a batter. A dropped fly ball tied the game but Ralston bounced back to get a pop-up to end the frame with a runner on second.

Reed led off the sixth with a single and gave way to pinch-runner Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois). Scott sacrificed and Kindred walked. Both runners moved up on a groundout and Houck gave the Scots a 6-5 lead with a single off the pitchers' foot.

The Eagles put two on to start the seventh with a single and a hit batter. After two straight outs, a triple gave UNW a 7-6 lead. The Scots got a two-out single from Dye in the seventh and then a pinch-hit single by Reid Stufflebeem (Galesburg, Illinois) put the tying run in scoring position. However, a strikeout ended the game with UNW winning 7-6.

Sharp allowed three earned runs over five innings while striking out three and walking one. He took a no-decision after leaving with a 5-4 lead. Ralston (0-1) took the loss on two earned runs over two innings as he struck out two.

"Sharp went a great solid five for us and another rookie in Roy did a good job," said Betourne. "That's baseball for you the way they got the lead at the end and we wouldn't have done anything differently."

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Every Monmouth batter in the lineup scored at least one run in the opener. Guillermo tied his career high with four RBI in the opener. He had four RBI last year against Knox and twice in 2022. Guillermo, Parkins and Lummus have hit safely in the first four games. Parkins has driven in runs in the first four games. Matkovic and Houck scored three runs each in the opener while Houck, Lummus, Guillermo, Dye and Scottt had two hits each. Freeman had his first collegiate RBI in the opener and Dye had his first RBI of the season. Wolfe also had a save in Florida last season. Monmouth drew 12 walks and had three batters hit by pitches in the opener. Scott set a new career-high with three RBI in the opener and tied his high for hits with two. Kindred made his first career start in game two and collected his first hit and first RBI as a Fighting Scot. Parkins, Dye and Reed had two hits in game two. Eight of the nine starters had at least one hit in game two. Ralston made his college debut in game two. The Scots and Eagles met for the first time ever last March in Fort Pierce with UNW winning 6-5. The Scots are scheduled for nine games in Florida with a Sunday noon ET double header against Franciscan.