The Monmouth College baseball team rallied from four runs down to beat Lawrence 10-6 on Sunday, winning the series. The Fighting Scots (6-13, 2-3) won the final two games of the series against last year's MWC regular season champions.
"The guys never gave up today and the dugout was loud all game," said head coach Alan Betourne. "We had some good at bats and were able to cash in. To beat a good team like that we aren't going to complain at all."
Lawrence scored four runs in the top of the first against Monmouth starter Roy Ralston (Macon, Illinois). The first two batters walked and the Vikings ended up scoring four times with three hits and one left on base.
Daniel Lummus (New Port Richey, Florida) got the Scots offense going with a leadoff single in the bottom of the first. Lummus went to third on an errant pick off throw and scored on a wild pitch as Eric Campen (Washington, Illinois) reached on a dropped third strike. Campen moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a one-out single by Raul Guillermo (Miami, Florida). The RBI is his 113th career RBI, tying the career record set by Ryan Stubler from 2005-2008 and comes a day after Guillermo tied the career HR record.
The Vikings added two more in the second to push the lead to 6-2. The first run scored off two singles and a wild pitch while the second run came home on a throwing error.
Lummus reached on an error to start the fourth inning and with one out, Jacob Blunck (Forsyth, Illinois) doubled to right. Lummus scored on a wild pitch as Guillermo walked to put runners on the corners. Clayton Matkovic (Sherrard, Illinois) reached on a RBI fielders' choice as Blunck scored for a 6-4 game. Matkovic moved to second on an errant pickoff throw and Nate Reed (Chenoa, Illinois) walked. Aiden Scott (Carrollton, Texas) was hit by a pitch to load the bases but a groundout ended the frame.
Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) was hit by a pitch to start the fifth and Lummus was also plunked. Camoen bunted both runners over and Zeigler-Harris scored on a passed ball for a 6-5 game.
Owen Wolfe (Galesburg, Illinois) took over on the mound in the seventh inning. He retired the Vikings in order with two strikeouts..
Zeigler-Harris drew a walk to start the seventh and Lummus also walked. Zeigler-Harris stole third and two pitchers later Lummus stole second but the next two batters struck out. The Vikings intentionally walked Guillermo to load the bases. Matkovic beat out an infield single to shortstop as Zeigler-Harris scored and Lummus came home on an errant throw for a 7-6 Monmouth lead. Reed walked to load the bases and Scott doubled home two for a 9-6 lead. A wild pitch plated Reed as Hunter Wheat (Athens, Illinois) walked to put the Scots up 10-6.
Wolfe kept the Vikings off the board in the eighth and Nick Villa (El Segundo, California) closed out the game in the ninth. Ralston settled in after the first inning and tied his career high with eight strikeouts over six innings of work while Wolfe (2-1) picked up the win.
"The whole goal is to win the series and that's what we did," said Betourne. "The weather wasn't great and the wind was blowing in from left so taking the ball to right was the approach. It is exactly what we did today and winning the series is huge."
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Ralston also struck out eight in a game last season at home against Knox ... Scott had three hits while Lummus and Matkovic both had two ... Lummus was on base five times and scored three runs ... Zeigler-Harris scored twice while both Matkovic and Scott had two RBI ... Guillermo and Reed drew two walks each ... Monmouth stole three bases ... Guillermo moved into a tie with Ryan Stubler (2005-08) for the most RBI in Monmouth history with 113 ... Lummus moved into 17th on the career hits list ... Guillermo and Scott both had six hits in the series ... Villa has thrown scoreless innings in two straight games ... Wolfe leads the Scots with nine outings out of the bullpen in 19 games ... The Scots are 14-9 all-time against Lawrence, 9-6 under Betourne ... Monmouth won the season series in 2011, 2018, 2022, 2023 and 2025 ... Lawrence won the season series in 1979 and 2024 ... Monmouth is scheduled to host Blackburn in a non-conference double header at Noon on Wednesday.
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