Scots Split Sunday Double Header in Florida

Matkovic delivers game-winning triple in opener

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (03/10/2024) — The Monmouth College baseball team split a double header against Franciscan University on Sunday, winning the opener 8-6 before falling 10-7 in the nightcap. The Scots (3-3) have a day off Monday before playing four straight days in Florida,

"We used a lot of our young pitchers today and they really competed for us," said head coach Alan Betourne. "We never gave up which is a positive and we hit the ball really hard all day."

Monmouth grabbed an early lead against the Barons left-handed starter Jonathan Perez. Tyler Houck (Park Ridge, Illinois) and Daniel Lummus (New Port Richey, Florida) both singled with one out. Houck moved to third on a fly out and scored on a passed ball as Aidan Parkins (Monmouth, Illinois) walked.

The Scots started lefty Tyler Sears (Bloomington, Illinois) on the mound. Franciscan started with a hit batter and walk before picking up two singles with one out to take a 2-1 lead. Sears escaped the inning with a groundout and flyout.

Monmouth tied the game in the second. Nate Reed (Chenoa, Illinois) was hit by a pitch and freshman Jacob Blunck (Forsyth, Illinois) singled. Both runners moved up on a sac bunt from
Aiden Scott (Carrollton, Texas) and Reed scored on a Franciscan error.

Raul Guillermo (Miami, Florida) led off the third with a single to right and Parkins singled to left. Both came around to score on a throwing error with Alexander Dye (Albuquerque, New Mexico) ending up on third base. Reed singled home Dye for a 5-2 Monmouth lead.

The Barons plated two in the third after an error started the inning. Clayton Matkovic (Sherrard, Illinois) led off the Monmouth fourth with a single and moved to second on an infield single by Houck. Lummus sacrificed to move both runners up a base and Guillermo made it 6-4 with a sacrifice fly to center.

The Barons tied the game in the fourth with hits on both sides of an error, a safety squeeze bunt and a sacrifice fly. Ethan Zaayenga (Tremont, Illinois) kept the Barons off the board in the fifth and struck out the side in the sixth inning.

Dye led off the seventh with a single to center and he moved to second on a sac bunt by Reed. Reid Stufflebeem (Galesburg, Illinois) pinch hit and reached on an infield single. Gabe Zeigler Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) pinch ran for Stufflebeem and stole second. Matkovic brought home both runners with a triple to right field for an 8-6 Monmouth lead.

"We kept fighting there at the end to win each inning," said Betourne. "The guys had a lot of confidence and we strung along some hits and put pressure on them to make mistakes and we came out on top"

Nick Villa (El Segundo, California) struck out the first batter in the seventh before allowing a single and a double. After a popup he struck out the Barons pinch-hitter to end the game.

Sears took a no-decision as he allowed three earned runs over four innings while striking out three. Zaayenga (1-0) struck out four and didn't allow a hit in two innings of work to pick up the win. Villa earned his first Monmouth save with a shutout seventh inning and two strikeouts.

GAME TWO

Monmouth started freshman Clayton Rentschler (Riverton, Illinois) in game two, He struck out two of the first three Barons batters but four straight reached with two outs as Franciscan took a 3-0 lead

Lummus doubled to center with two outs in the bottom of the first. After a wild pitch, Guillermo got the Scots on the board with a single to right but was left at second.

Down 4-1, the Scots tied the game with three unearned runs in the third. Houck was hit by a pitch with one out and safe at second on an error as Lummus reached. Guillermo singled home Houck and with two outs, Lummus scored on a throwing error. Dye singled home Guillermo to tie the game 4-4.

Luke Kelty (Spring Valley, Illinois) took over on the mound in the fourth in his season debut. He walked one but got an inning-ending double play. The Scots took the lead in the bottom of the inning. Scott singled, moved to second on a groundout and scored on a two-out single by Houck.

Heath Hornke (Normal, Illinois) took over on the mound in the fifth. The Barons loaded the bases on a single, walk and hit batter before tying the game on a two-out infield single. Another single scored two and put Franciscan on top 7-5 before a ground ball ended the inning.

A diving catch in right field robbed the Scots with the bases loaded to end the bottom of the fifth. The Barons added a run with three hits against Derek Fitzgerald (Robertsville, Missouri). Owen Wolfe (Galesburg, Illinois) got out of the inning with a fly out and Parkins threw out a Barons runner at the plate.

Down 8-5, Matkovic reached on a two-base error to start the sixth and Houck singled to center. Lummus beat out an infield grounder to load the bases and Guillermo drove home Matkovic with a sacrifice fly.

Franciscan added two runs in the seventh with three straight two-out singles and a throwing error. The Scots put pressure on the Barons in the bottom of the seventh. Scott singled with two outs and Matkovic reached on an error. Houck doubled to right to score Scott but Matkovic was thrown out at the plate to end the game.

"We are now looking to reset into the off day after a loss like that," said Betourne. "We have some things to figure out and have the day off to fine tune things and hopefully we can come out and attack on Tuesday."

Rentschler took a no-decision as he allowed four runs and struck out four over three innings. Kelty walked one in a shutout and hitless inning. Hornke (0-1) took the loss, allowing three runs on three hits in an inning.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Guillermo and Lummus have hit safely in the first six games of the season. Sears made his first collegiate start in game one after throwing out of the bullpen four times in 2023. He threw a career-high four innings and struck out a career-high three. Zaayenga threw a career-high two innings with a career-best four strikeouts. Reed has been hit by a team-leading five pitches this season, including four so far in Florida. Blunck collected his first collegiate hit in the second inning of game one. Rentschler and Hornke made their college debuts in game two. Houck, Lummus, Guillermo, Dye and Reed had hits in both games. Guillermo drove in runs in both games and had four RBI on the day. Houck and Guillermo scored in both games. The Scots and Barons had never met before today. Franciscan head coach Rick Carver is the former coach at Bethany College and Betourne was his assistant before being hired as Monmouth head coach. The Scots are off on Monday before playing Washington College (Md.) at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.