Wilkerson Homers as Scots Split at Beloit

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (04/05/2026) — The Monmouth College baseball team split two games at Beloit on Saturday. The Fighting Scots (7-14, 3-3) won the game that was suspended on Friday 10-3 before losing 13-1 in eight innings.

GAME ONE

The game that began on Friday afternoon was scoreless in the second when Clayton Matkovic (Sherrard, Illinois) led off with a single and Jace Wilkerson (East Peoria, Illinois) doubled. Matkovic scored as Jacob Blunck (Forsyth, Illinois) reached on an error and Zach Almaguer (Monmouth, Illinois) walked. Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) made it 3-0 with a single and both runners moved up on a sac bunt by Hunter Wheat (Athens, Illinois) Aidan Parkins (Monmouth, Illinois) singled home two for a 5-0 lead and he stole second. Eric Campen (Washington, Illinois) made it 6-0 with a single and Aiden Scott (Carrollton, Texas) doubled. Matkovic, who started the inning, made it 7-0 with a sacrifice fly before Beloit got out of the inning.

After a lightning delay, the game resumed and Beloit scored a run in the third inning against Monmouth starter Ethan Zaayenga (Tremont, Illinois). Zaayenga got the next two batters out to strand a pair of Bucs. He retired Beloit in order in the fourth and pitched around a 2-out error in the fifth. Beloit used a single, walk and error to load the bases in the seventh. They cut the lead to 7-2 with a single and Owen Alford (Hopedale, Illinois) took over on the mound. He allowed a RBI groundout before getting out of the frame with a grounder.

Neither team scored in the eighth and the game was suspended Friday night due to darkness. When it resumed on Saturday, Parkins led off the ninth with a single and moved to second on a sac bunt by Campen Scott singled and with two outs, Wilkerson launched his third home run of the year for a 10-3 lead. Ryan Garofoli (Chicago, Illinois) closed the game with a shutout frame.

Zaayenga (1-5) picked up the win with two earned runs allowed on six hits over 6 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out three. Alford retired both batters he faced in the seventh. Owen Wolfe (Galesburg, Illinois) made his season debut with a shutout frame as he walked two and allowed a hit. Garofoli also walked two and allowed a hit in a shutout frame.

GAME TWO

Beloit took the lead in the bottom of the first against Monmouth starter Brandon Coats (Mapleton, Illinois). A lead off double and a 1-out single made it 1-0.

The Scots tied the game in the second. Blunck singled with one out and moved to second on a grounder. Almaguer singled to right and Blunck scored to tie the game.

It stayed 1-1 until the bottom of the sixth. A 1-out homer gave Beloit a 2-1 lead and they added another on an error and double. A single made it 4-1 and Alford came out of the pen for Coats. A triple and homer added three unearned runs for a 7-1 lead.

In the seventh. Beloit started the inning with two walks and two steals against Caleb Ochs (Royal, Illinois). A sacrifice fly made it 8-1 and after an error, Weslee Frame (Fairview, Illinois) came out of the bullpen. Two singles added two more runs before a strikeout ended the frame.

Wheat and Campen singled in the eighth and Scott walked with one out. However a strikeout and a groundout kept the Scots from scoring. Beloit ended the game in the bottom of the eighth with two walks and a 3-run homer for the 13-1 run rule win.

Coats (2-3) took the loss as he allowed two earned runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out three and walked two. Alford allowed two unearned runs on two hits in 2/3 of an inning. Ochs allowed one earned run as he walked two in 1/3 of an inning. Frame allowed three runs on three hits and two walks in 2/3 of an inning.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Parkins had an 11-game hit streak snapped in Saturday's game ... Wilkerson leads the Scots with three home runs on the season, two in MWC action ... Campen, Blunck and Wheat had hits in both games ... Blunck also scored in both gamesScott drew two walks in Saturday's game ... Blunck played for the first time since injuring his leg in Florida on March 11 ... Wolfe made his season debut with his 33rd career appearance ... He is four outings away from the career top 10 ... With his 130th career hit, Matkovic moved into the top 20 in Monmouth history ... Beloit leads the all-time series 26-24 ... The teams split six games last year with Monmouth going 2-1 in the regular season and Beloit going 2-1 in the MWC Tournament\t ... Monmouth is back home on Tuesday with a 1 p.m. DH against Illinois College.