Wilkerson Homers, Drives in Five but Scots Lose 17-9
MONMOUTH, Ill. (04/15/2026) — The Monmouth College baseball team allowed a season-high five homers and 17 runs in a 17-9 loss at Illinois College on Wednesday. The Fighting Scots (10-17, 6-6) led two different times before IC took the lead for good on back-to-back-to-back home runs.
Clayton Matkovic (Sherrard, Illinois) walked with one out in the first and moved up on a wild pitch. Jace Wilkerson (East Peoria, Illinois) walked and Eric Campen (Washington, Illinois) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jacob Blunck (Forsyth, Illinois) walked to force in a run and Zach Almaguer (Monmouth, Illinois) made it 2-0 with a single. Campen was thrown out at the plate on the Almaguer single to end the inning.
Wilkerson pulled double-duty as the starting pitcher and he allowed one run in the first on a leadoff double and 1-out single. A double play ended the inning with the Scots up 2-1.
Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) singled with one out in the second and Aidan Parkins (Monmouth, Illinois) walked. With two down, Wilkerson launched his seventh homer of the season for a 5-1 lead. It is his second 3-run homer against IC, both in games he was also the starting pitcher.
The Blueboys plated two unearned runs in the second after an error extended the inning. Leading 5-3, Aiden Scott (Carrollton, Texas) led off the third with a double and moved up on a passed ball. Blunck made it 6-3 with a RBI single before IC retired three in a row to get out of the inning.
Another 2-out Monmouth error on the infield opened the doors for IC in the bottom of the third. Instead of being out of the inning, a run scored on the error and two more singles tied the game 6-6. Will Baumgartner (Sycamore, Illinois) took over on the mound and got out of the inning with a pop up.
Parkins led off the fourth with an infield single and he stole second. After moving to third on a grounder, Parkins scored on a groundout by Wilkerson for a 7-6 Monmouth lead.
After a fourth Monmouth error, IC hit a 2-run homer to lead 8-7 in the fourth. They went back-to-back on the next pitch to lead 9-7. Another homer came on the next pitch for three homers in a row on three pitches. With a runner on first, Clayton Rentschler (Riverton, Illinois) took over on the mound and struck out two in a row to end the inning.
Down 10-7 in the sixth, Parkins led off with a single and stole second. Matkovic walked and Wilkerson singled to bring home a run. Wilkerson was thrown out at second on the play before Campen singled to bring home Matkovic for a 10-9 game.
IC hit their fourth homer of the game, a solo shot with one out in the sixth, off reliever Owen Wolfe (Galesburg, Illinois). The Scots lost a runner at the plate in the seventh after Almaguer doubled and IC made it 12-9 with three straight singles in the bottom of the inning. After a hit batter loaded the bases, IC brought in two more with a double. A sac fly and another homer made it 17-9 before the Scots got out of the inning. Monmouth didn't score in their final two innings.
Wilkerson allowed one earned run and eight hits over 2 2/3 innings as he walked two and struck out one. Baumgartner (1-2) took the loss as he allowed four runs on four hits, three homers and a walk in 2/3 of an inning. Rentschler allowed one hit and walked one while striking out three in 1 1/3 hitless and shutout innings. Wolfe allowed seven runs on six hits in 1 1/3 innings with a strikeout. Blake Sierens (Sherrard, Illinois) threw a shutout inning with a strikeout and a walk.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Parkins now has 12 multi-hit games ... Wilkerson homered as the starting pitcher for the second straight time and finished with five RBI ... He has eight multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI games ... In three games against IC Wilkerson was 8-for-14 with three homers, five runs scored and 12 RBI ... Almaguer has five straight mult-hit games and he is 13-for-25 in that span with three doubles and four RBI ... He had two doubles on Wednesday ... Parkins had two stolen bases for the second straight game ... The Scots lead the all-time series 117-79 but have lost four straight in Jacksonville with a total of 53 runs allowed ... The Scots return home for a Noon DH against Cornell on Saturday, April 18.
Media Attachments
box score
Monmouth College
Nathan Baliva 309-457-2322 nbaliva@monmouthcollege.eduShare this Story
Recent News
- Savage Wins at No. 1 but Scots Fall to IC
- Gift from Jim '68 and Alice Bunn '69 endows nursing scholarship at Monmouth College
- Baseball Wins Series at Knox With Four-Run 11th
- Women's Tennis Finishes Season With Loss to Augie
- Wilkerson Named MWC Baseball Player of the Week
- Monmouth College senior profile: Ella Goodrich
- Scots Blast Knox with 15 Runs on 18 Hits
- Softball Splits at Lawrence on Sunday
- Golf Teams Host Fighting Scot Invite
- Scots Win Seven Events at Grinnell's Dick Young Classic