By: After a tight first game of a doubleheader that wasn’t decided until the ninth inning, the Blueboys couldn’t keep up with the Monmouth bats in game two.
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Box Score 2
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College baseball team went back and forth with Monmouth College in the first game of a doubleheader at Joe Brooks Field on Thursday afternoon, but the Fighting Scots posted the last run on the board in the ninth inning and the Blueboys failed to respond in a 6-5 defeat. The momentum carried over to the second game as Monmouth blew open the contest in the later innings of an 11-0 victory.
Illinois College (13-12, 4-6 Midwest Conference) wraps up the four-game series against the Scots on the road on April 28 with games at 12 and 3 p.m.
Game One: Monmouth 6, Illinois College 5
Monmouth rallied out of a 3-1 deficit to take a 5-3 lead before Illinois College answered back with the tying runs in the bottom of the sixth. The deadlocked contest stayed level until the top of the ninth when Monmouth was able to score an unearned run and take the lead.
Dylan Jones went six innings and allowed five runs (four earned), while
Ethan Crain (1-2) pitched the rest of the way, giving up just the single unearned run that allowed the Scots to escape with the win.
Monmouth took a quick lead in the top of the first as Jones dealt with some early control issues. A RBI single made it 1-0, but the Blueboys were able to escape some damage as
Joe Paparelli threw to second to erase Grant Myers from the basepaths.
Illinois College took its first lead in the bottom of the inning when
Scott Kasting looped a RBI double down the right-field line, scoring Paparelli and
Tim Sommerfeld to make it 2-1. In the bottom of the second, IC expanded its lead on a two-out double from Sommerfeld and a RBI single from
Austin Gusewelle, pushing the Blueboys advantage to 3-1.
The Scots sliced the deficit in half in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly before Myers gave the visitors the lead with a two-run blast in the top of the fifth, making it 4-3. A two-out error by Illinois College in the top of the sixth allowed Monmouth to tack on another run.
Gusewelle knotted the score in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out RBI single with the bases loaded, pushing two runs home and forcing a pitching change from Monmouth. Alex Sheetz was able to retire
Daniel Reed for the third out however, keeping the game tied at 5-5.
Crain came on in relief in the seventh and pitched well, but couldn't get any run support from the offense. The Blueboys went down in order in the seventh and left Paparelli stranded on first in the eighth. In the top of the ninth, a one-out error put a runner on for the Scots and Harry Sanchez doubled him home for a 6-5 lead.
Jake Starkey came in to pitch to Illinois College in the ninth inning and retired two IC batters in order before Kasting singled to keep the game alive. With pinch-hitter
Grant Argyilan at the dish, Starkey made a good move to first as Kasting lost his footing, picking off the third baseman for the final out.
Kasting led IC with three hits in the game, while Paparelli, Gusewelle and
Brandon Skovronski all had two hits apiece.
Game Two: Monmouth 11, Illinois College 0
Connor Sharp went eight innings, striking out six while allowing only three hits to improve to 4-3 on the season.
Austin Newton (4-2) took the loss, keeping the Blueboys in it until a two-run blast by Myers pushed the Monmouth lead to 5-0. The IC bullpen gave up six more runs in the next three innings as the Scots pulled away for the easy win.
Monmouth took the lead in the top of the second as a grounder got away from
Dillon Hallemann and the Scots had two runners in scoring position race in for a 2-0 lead. The Blueboys had chances to stay in it, but left two runners aboard in both the first, second and fifth innings.
Mike Dato deposited a solo home run over the wall in center field for a 3-0 lead in the top of the sixth. In the top of the seventh, the Scots worked a lead-off walk before Myers smashed a two-run homer to left field to make it 5-0 and end Newton's day. Later in the inning, Dato hit his second homer of the game to increase Monmouth's lead to 7-0. The Scots tacked on two more runs in the eighth and ninth for the final 11-0 margin.
Paparelli,
Brennan Bergstralh and
Robbie Cooper had the three hits for Illinois College in the game.
