Monmouth College senior Raul Guillermo (Miami, Florida) hit for the cycle on Sunday but the Scots baseball team lost both games to Illinois Tech. Guillermo accomplished the feat with a home run in the seventh inning of game two, the first Monmouth cycle in seven years.
In the first game, Monmouth took the lead in the second. Nate Reed (Chenoa, Illinois) doubled and moved to third on a sac bunt by Aidan Parkins (Monmouth, Illinois). Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) walked with two outs and Reed scored on a passed ball for a 1-0 lead.
Illinois Tech tied the game against starting pitcher Ethan Zaayenga (Tremont, Illinois) in the third with two hits. Zeigler-Harris led off the fifth with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. With a runner on third and two outs, Clayton Matkovic (Sherrard, Illinois) put the Scots up 2-1 with a single. Guillermo was hit by a pitch and Alexander Dye (Albuquerque, New Mexico) reached on a dropped third strike to load the bases. Reed was hit by a pitch for a 3-1 lead before the Scots left the bases loaded.
Roy Ralston (Macon, Illinois) took over on the mound in the fifth and kept the Scarlet Hawks off the board. Leading 3-2, Monmouth added an insurance run in the top of the ninth. Aiden Scott (Carrollton, Texas) doubled, Zeigler-Harris walked and Daniel Lummus (New Port Richey, Florida) singled to load the bases with no outs. After a pop out, Matkovic drove home Scott with a fielders' choice for a 4-2 lead but the Scots left runners on the corners in the top of the ninth.
Illinois Tech tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a walk and a homer. With two outs they put the winning run on with a single. After a stolen base, a single to center won the game for Illinois Tech, 5-4.
Zaayenga allowed one run on four hits over four innings while striking out five. Ralston (0-1) took the loss allowing three earned runs over 4 innings while striking out two.
GAME TWO
The Scarlet Hawks got a run in the top of the first against Monmouth starting pitcher Toby Turnquist (Monmouth, Illinois) with two walks, a double and a single. Illinois Tech loaded the bases in the second inning with a single and two walks before a double made it 3-0.
Reed led off the third with a double and scored on a triple by Guillermo, who singled in the first inning. Dye reached on an error as Guillermo scored, cutting the IT lead to 3-2.
After two straight walks in the fourth, Turnquist gave way to Brandon Coats (Mapleton, Illinois) took over on the mound. A 3-run homer gave IT a 6-2 lead and they added another run on two singles and an error. They added two more in the fifth with a walk, three errors and a single.
Guillermo doubled in the bottom of the fifth with Matkovic on first. Dye walked to load the bases but a double play ended the inning.
Owen Wolfe (Galesburg, Illinois) threw two straight scoreless innings of relief for the Scots. Lummus led off the seventh with a single and Guillermo completed the cycle with a 2-out home run. The homer is his first of the season and 16th of his Monmouth career.
The Scarlet Hawks added two runs against Wolfe in the eighth and two more against reliever Weslee Frame (Fairview, Illinois) in the ninth.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: The last cycle was by Harry Sanchez on March 18, 2018 against Simpson. Casey Boyston also hit for the cycle in 1999Sunday was Guillermo's third career 4-hit game and his 13th game with at least three RBI. He has 16 career home runs, ninth on the Monmouth career list. He also ranks ninth on the career RBI list with 96, tied with Steve Glasgow. His 201 total bases rank 14th and his 28 doubles rank 18th on the career lists. Two Scots, Frame, a transfer, and freshman Hunter Wheat (Athens, Illinois) made their Monmouth debuts on Sunday. Lummus and Matkovic had hits in both games and each had three total on the dayReed also had a hit in each game, both doubles. Monmouth had eight errors on the day, six in game twoZeigler-Harris drew three walks in game one. Monmouth's next nine games are in Florida starting with a double header against Northwestern-St. Paul on Saturday. The home opener is Saturday, March 29 with a DH against MWC opponent Lawrence.
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