MONMOUTH, ILL. The Monmouth College baseball team swept Knox College on Thursday with a pair of 10-run wins in the final home games of the 2021 season. The wins keep the Scots with control in the Southern Division race at 14-7, 16-9 overall.
Down 1-0 the Scots got the bats going in the bottom of the first. Matt Temaner (Gurnee, Illinois) singled and scored on a one-out double by Mike Dato (Oswego, Illinois). In the second inning the Scots loaded the bases with nobody out. Temaner walked to score a run and Logan Komater (Ottawa, Illinois) was hit by a pitch to give the Scots a 3-1 lead. A sacrifice fly by Sean Davis (Barrington, Illinois) put Monmouth on top 4-1
The offense kept rolling in the third with the help of a Knox error plating Nate Melvin (Ottawa, Illinois). Jordan Ball (Moscow Mills, Missouri) stole second and third before Temaner walked. Komater’s single made it 6-1 and Temaner scored on a wild pitch.
The Scots led 7-2 in the fifth when Shamus Murphy (Milan, Illinois) led off with a double. Ball’s triple gave the Scots an 8-2 lead and a sacrifice fly by Temaner made it 9-2. Jake Brewer (Gibson City, Illinois) doubled home Justin Bost (Reynolds, Illinois) in the sixth for a 10-2 lead.
Addison Fletcher (Monmouth, Illinois) kept the Prairie Fire off the board in the seventh and the Scots finished off the game in the eighth. With two on and two outs, Thomas Witty (Northbrook, Illinois) pinch-hit for Ball and delivered a two-run single to left for a 10-run lead and a walk-off hit.
Fletcher improved to 5-0 as he struck out eight over seven innings. He allowed two runs on four hits and three walks. Hunter De La Rosa (Moline, Illinois) threw a perfect inning with a strikeout.
The Scots got to work right away in game two. Temaner walked in the bottom of the first and Dato singled. With two down Bost gave the Scots a 1-0 lead with a single and Melvin’s double made it 2-0.
Leading 2-1 in the third the Scots added on. Dato was hit by a pitch, Davis singled and Bost singled to load the bases. A sacrifice fly from Melvin gave Monmouth a 3-1 lead.
With Ball and Temaner on base in the fourth the Scots pulled off a double steal with Ball swiping home. Komater grounded out to score Temaner for a 5-1 lead. Dato was again hit by a pitch and Davis launched his first homer of the season for a 7-1 lead.
With Nathan Willig (Oswego, Illinois) cruising on the mound the Scots kept scoring. Melvin singled home Dato in the sixth and Ball walked with the bases loaded to make it 9-1. In the seventh Bost doubled home a run and Melvin’s single gave the Scots another walk-off run-rule win at 11-1.
Willig struck out 10 over seven innings while not allowing an earned run. He improved to 4-0 on the season with four hits allowed and four walks issued.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Davis has hit in 19 straight games dating back to April 3…..Temaner is now third in Scots career history in runs scored and 12th in hits……He also moved into a tie for 15th in doubles and a tie for 11th in career steals……Dato has been hit by 11 pitches this season, tied for the most in any single season……..He is the career leader as well……..Dato is the 11th player in Monmouth history with at least 30 career doubles and he is tied for ninth on the list with 31. He moved into the top 15 in career hits and fifth in career RBI……Fletcher tied his season and career highs with eight strikeouts and seven innings pitched……Willig has two straight complete games, both at home……His 10 strikeouts are a career high……Brewer tied the Scots single-game record with three doubles, last achieved by Temaner in 2018…….Ball tied the single-season record with six triples, last accomplished by coach Alan Betourne……The Scots have outscored Knox 48-4 and out-hit them 55-12 in four games this season……Monmouth is 9-1 against Knox in the last 10 games……The teams play a double header at Noon Saturday in Galesburg.
***Recap and photo courtesy of Monmouth College Athletics***
