MONMOUTH, ILL. (04/25/2021) The Monmouth College Fighting Scots baseball team had another record fall on Sunday as they split a home double header with Illinois College. In the game two loss, Shamus Murphy (Milan, Illinois) became the first player in school history to hit three grand slams in a career and single season.
The Scots took the opener 12-6 before losing the nightcap 14-13. They are now 11-6 on the season and 9-4 in Midwest Conference play. The Scots and IC are tied for first in the Southern Division with only a makeup game from Saturday remaining in their head-to-head matchups.
“Obviously the bats are coming alive and we are doing a pretty good job of cashing in,” said Alan Betourne. “It’s a lot of fun to coach when the bats are going like this. We took advantage of free bases today and we are always in games.”
After losing a runner at the plate in game one, the Scots took the lead in the bottom of the second. Nate Melvin (Ottawa, Illinois) singled, went to second on an error and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. With two down, Jordan Ball (Moscow Mills, Missouri) doubled to give the Scots a 1-0 lead.
Illinois College took a 2-1 lead with a pair of solo homers in the fourth. They added on in the fifth and lead 3-1 before Sean Davis (Barrington, Illinois) double home a run for Monmouth.
In the sixth the Scots took the lead for good. Ball singled with one out and moved to third on a single by Matt Temaner (Gurnee, Illinois). An error tied the game and Mike Dato (Oswego, Illinois) singled home Temaner for a 4-3 Scots lead. Davis reached on an error as Logan Komater (Ottawa, Illinois) scored and Justin Bost (Reynolds, Illinois) drove home two more with a single. Melvin made it 8-3 with a RBI single and Ball’s two-run single gave the Scots a 10-3 lead.
The Blue Boys plated two in the seventh but that was as close as they got. The Scots scored the final two runs of the game in the eighth. Ball singled home Bost for an 11-6 lead and Temaner scored on a wild pitch to cap the scoring.
Nathan Willig (Oswego, Illinois) earned the win to move to 2-0 on the season. He allowed five earned runs on nine hits over 6 1/3 innings while striking out one. Trevor Davis (Waterloo, Illinois) struck out three over 2 2/3 shutout innings.
Game two got off to a rough start for the Scots as Illinois College scored nine runs in the top of the first. The Scots got right back into the game though in the bottom of the inning. Three walks loaded the bases and Jackson Van Iwaarden (Ballwin, Missouri) singled to get the Scots on the board. Melvin walked to force home Dato and Murphy stepped to the plate. Having already hit grand slams at Cornell and at Grinnell this season, Murphy slammed the first pitch over the left-field wall for his third grand slam and fifth homer of the season.
“That kid is free and easy and he’s calm, cool and collected,” said Betourne. “He wants to be in those pressure situations and it seems like every time he is he cashes in. It was exactly what we needed to get back in it today.”
The Scots got closer in the second as Davis singled home Komater. Murphy picked up a fifth RBI as he singled home Van Iwaarden in the third to cut the IC lead to 9-8.
Monmouth took the lead in the fourth. Davis doubled home Komater to tie the game and an error gave the Scots a 10-9 lead.
The Blue Boys regained the lead in the fifth with a double and two singles. A solo homer in the sixth made it 12-10 before the Scots got one back on a groundout by Van Iwaarden.
Monmouth trailed 14-11 after seven innings. In the eighth Van Iwaarden and Melvin both singled. Thomas Witty (Northbrook, Illinois) ran for Van Iwaarden and scored on a single by Ball. In the ninth Dato reached on an error and with two down Bost singled. Brewer delivered a pinch-hit single to cut the IC lead to 14-13 but a groundout ended the game with two runners on base.
“It was a bullpen game today and there were a few guys where it was welcome to your college career, facing the best 3-4-5 hitters in our conference,” said Betourne. “They did a great job giving up just a couple earned runs over eight innings and they kept us in it and gave us a chance.”
MONMOUTH MOMENTS:
Murphy leads the team with five home runs. He has 24 RBI, two behind Ball for the team lead.
Bost leads the Scots with 28 hits.
Freshmen Ryan Adolphson (Abingdon-Avon, Illinois), Cade Sharp (Aledo, Illinois) and Tyler Pulliam (Pontiac, Illinois) all made their college debuts in game two of the DH. Adolphson took the loss.
Pitchers Matt Datlof (Las Vegas, Nevada) and Hector De La Rosa (Moline, Illinois) made their season debuts.
The Scots have scored at least 10 runs in three straight games and in six of the last eight.
Temaner is two runs shy of the career top-five list.
He stole his 16th career base passing coach Alan Betourne for 17th on the career steals list.
The Scots play Wednesday at Cornell with a 3 p.m. double header.
***Recap courtesy of Monmouth College Athletics***
