WINNING THE SQUEAKERS IN SNEAKERS

Playing non-conference opponent St. Ambrose on April 1 seemed like a cruel April Fool’s Day joke at the time. The Bees won the match 6-3 by virtue of winning three of the four three-set matches.

Last Saturday, the Scots had the last laugh in three-set matches, and this time it was in a match that counted – vs. conference foe Lake Forest. At stake was a spot in this weekend’s Midwest Conference team portion of the league championships. Monmouth defeated Lake Forest 6-3 and downed Knox 9-0 to earn their third trip to the team competition in four years.

“Every year it seems like it comes down to us and Lake Forest for that last spot,” said Chad Braun. “Saturday was very similar to the St. Ambrose match, a lot of three-setters. The difference was, this time we won.”

But, it wasn’t easy.

The Scots trailed 2-1 after the doubles competition. Only Kyle Korb and Chris Utterback at No. 1 doubles picked up a point, winning 8-3. Sam Graf and Eric Brandhorst narrowly lost at No. 2, falling 8-6. The Scots took a double shot when the No. 3 team of Ben Morrow and Tyler Lampe fell 9-7 after being up 7-4.

That may have been a preview of things to come.

“In football, we talk about being even-keeled,” said Braun, who also serves as the football team’s defensive coordinator. “We used the football saying – ‘Not too high on the highs and not too low on the lows.’ I told them there would be a lot of ebbs and flows during the match. They were pretty down after doubles, but I talked to each guy individually and asked if he could win at singles. Each one said ‘Yes.’ I told them being down 2-1 after doubles just meant we needed to win four of the six singles instead of three.”

That strategy must have worked. The Scots won FIVE of the six singles matches. Only Korb’s 7-5, 7-5 win at No. 1 went two sets and Graf lost a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 nail-biter at No. 2.

Lampe, Brandhorst and Utterback each dropped their first sets, but came back to win. Lampe had the most entertaining of the matches at No. 5. His three-set win not only went three sets – 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 – it also had two tie-breakers within the match. Lampe lost the first set tie-breaker 7-4, but won the pivotal third set tie-breaker 7-2. 

“Each match was key,” claimed Braun of the Scots’ performance on a day interrupted by rain delays. “It looked bleak for a while after we had three guys lose their first sets, but we had several rain delays, which actually helped. It gave us a chance to regain our composure after some tough losses. I’m so proud of these guys, every one of them. They played well and showed what they’re made of.”

The Scots took care of business in the day’s final match with a 9-0 blanking of Knox. Utterback didn’t drop a game in singles and Brandhorst, Graf and Matt Smith dropped just one game to the Prairie Fire.

“I told Chris and Tyler when I was recruiting them last year, they were two key cogs to get us back to the conference championships,” said Braun. “What they’ve done for us has been tremendous. Our two seniors – Kyle and Eric – have been tremendous for us, too. Kyle has provided great leadership. Then our two sophomores – Sam and Ben – have been exceptionally solid. I’m very proud of the entire team.”

Braun’s pride will get an extra day of work when the Scots begin the MWC Team Tournament play Friday morning. The Scots will draw North winner St. Norbert in the semifinals. The Green Knights edged the Scots 5-4 three weeks ago.

Maybe Braun and Co., can win the close matches this time, too. Now, if we can just figure out how to get a rain delay.

A FAMILIAR TUNE

Like the chorus of your favorite song, the Scots knew the tune going into Tuesday’s double-header with Grinnell – just like last season, they had to win Game 1 against the Pioneers to qualify for the Midwest Conference Tournament.

Mission accomplished.

Similar to last year when John Goddard brought freshman Jill Hennenfent off the bench to deliver a key RBI during their seventh inning comeback, this time he called on another freshman – Jessica Markley – who provided two crucial RBIs in the seventh as the Scots eased to a 4-0 win in the opener.

Did we mention there were two outs? Well, they say pressure creates diamonds.

“They were getting our right-handed hitters out,” explained Goddard of his decision to use the left-handed rookie. “Jessica did a great job. She had two strikes and fought off some tough pitches before shooting one into left and getting us those two insurance runs. That really took the life out of Grinnell.”

Nursing a 2-0 lead going into the seventh, Colleen Zumpf picked up her second hit of the game. Maggie Dort and pinch-hitter Haley Lyons followed and both hit the ball hard, but lined out. After Lauren Bergstresser singled to right and Amanda Snyder was hit by a pitch to load the bases, up stepped Markley.

The insurance runs were all Sarah Christensen would need to close out the win by retiring the next three Pioneers in order. The senior struck out six and scattered just four hits.

“Sarah threw very well in a must-win situation,” said Goddard. “She kept getting them out and getting better the farther along we got.”

After breaking a seven-game losing streak and punching their ticket to the MWC Tournament for the second year in a row, the Scots could have eased up. Instead, Amanda Murdock set down the first nine batters she faced in Game 2 and allowed only one hit over six innings as the Scots cruised to a 7-0 win. Ellissa Sexton worked the seventh and kept the Pioneers in check as the Scots evened their record at 17-17.

Bergstresser set the tone early for the nightcap. The freshman speedster led off the Scots’ first with a single, then swiped two bases. Bergstresser finished with four steals in the game and 23 for the season, breaking Melinda Mendez’s single season record of 20 set in 1994. Amanda Snyder then drove in Bergstresser for the only run the Scots needed.

Another lefty speedster – senior Ashley Parer – was a tough out in the nightcap. Come to think of it, she wasn’t an out at all. Parer was a perfect 3-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored. That’s a whopping 1.667 slugging percentage.

The offensive showing was especially gratifying to Goddard after his Scots fell to Cornell last week 2-1 and 2-0, spoiling a pair of pitching gems by Murdock and Sexton. Murdock surrendered no earned runs in her loss and Sexton was nearly as good, giving up just one earned run. That’s the result of five Monmouth errors in the twinbill at Cornell vs. none at Grinnell.

“Amanda threw two great games in a row – one at Cornell and Tuesday at Grinnell,” praised Goddard. “Amanda and Ellissa were outstanding at Cornell. It’s too bad we couldn’t score some runs for them. Ellissa has been magnificent in her last two starts, unfortunately, she got two losses. She’s showing us she has a bright future.”

The Scots’ immediate future includes a trip to Ripon, Wis., this weekend for the conference tournament. Monmouth opens with North Division winner Ripon – one of Sexton’s well-pitched losses – on Friday. Ripon scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh to defeat the Scots 4-3 two weeks ago.

Also in the tournament field is South Division champion Lake Forest and North Division runnerup St. Norbert. The Scots split with Lake Forest earlier this season and fell to St. Norbert at the Midwest Classic when the Green Knights rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the top of the seventh.

“The tournament is wide open this year,” said Goddard. “Any team can beat any team. It’s very balanced and will depend on who gets hot.”

The Scots pitching staff has been hot. Christensen, Murdock and Sexton have allowed just four runs in the last four games with an ERA of 0.27.

“I expect more of the same from our pitching staff,” said Goddard. “We’ll score some runs and the pitchers will keep it close, so we should be in all the games. Now we just have to get over the hump.”

And Goddard isn’t just whistling Dixie.

ON FIRE AT THE SCOT-FIRE

Playing in their final tournament before this weekend’s Midwest Conference Tournament, the Fighting Scots lit up the courses during the Scot-Fire Invitational at Soangetaha Country Club and Gibson Woods Golf Course.

The Scots’ 304-300-604 was the best 36-hole score of the season and placed Monmouth’s Red Team third in the field of 14. The White Team finished ninth after shooting a 319-322-641.

“We’re playing well right before conference,” said Dave Ragone. “We’re feeling pretty good about our game right now.”

Never better was the Red Team’s Ryan Tapscott who carded a season-low 75-73-148 to tie for second. Rodney Clayton wasn’t far behind. His 78-73-151 tied him for 11^th. Ted Starkey and Ryan Harvey each shot 152s. Starkey carded a 75-77-152 and Harvey broke his string of four straight rounds of 77 with a 76-77-152. Consistency was the name of the game for Jake Kilberg who shot 81-81-162 for the two rounds.

The heavy weather that pounded much of the Midwest skirted Gibson Woods on Saturday, allowing golfers to throw approach shots at “receptive” greens.

The White Team’s Kyle Tuor used the good conditions to shoot a season-low 77-80-157 to tie for 25^th. Sean McNamara checked in with a 78-82-160. Zach Coles was two strokes back of McNamara, firing an 82-80-162. Greg Jones and Ben Olson rounded out the scoring. Jones carded an 83-80-162 and Olson scored an 82-85-167.

“Tappy and Rodney played very well,” said Ragone of his two top scorers at last weekend’s invite. “Ted and Ryan were very consistent. Ryan has shot six straight rounds in the 70s.”

Entering this weekend’s Midwest Conference Championship, the Scots are averaging just a shade over 313 per round. That’s slightly higher than Ragone’s magic formula of 310 to win.

“There are still a few areas where we can get better,” said Ragone. “We still need a couple of guys to play their best. I’ve told them we just need our best to play their best and we’ll be OK.”

Tapscott, Clayton, Starkey, Harvey, Kilberg and Jones will be making the trip to Aldeen Golf Course in Rockford, Ill. Three of the six – Clayton, Starkey and Tapscott – are averaging around 78 strokes per round. Harvey, Jones and Kilberg check in with averages between 80 and 81.

Two players in the mix – McNamara, a freshman, and Tuor, a junior – were in the hunt, but just missed the tournament cut.

“Sean was right in the mix until the end,” said Ragone. “Kyle played pretty good golf the last couple of weeks. It was a tough decision, but the future looks extremely bright with our underclassmen.”

Only Jones and Kilberg will be lost to graduation giving the Scots plenty of firepower going into the 2010 season to not rebuild, but reload.

VERY INTERESTING, BUT…

Not to sound like Arte Johnson’s character on the 70s’ show Laugh In, but…the Fighting Scots made the race for the Midwest Conference tournament “VERY interesting…” after being swept by Knox last weekend.

The 7-1, 7-3 loss came one week after the Scots put out the Prairie Fire 12-1 and 7-0. It’s not the end of the world, but Roger Sander’s team could have turned the conference division battle into a two-horse race. Now, only Illinois College is out of the picture with just two games on the loss side separating Monmouth, Grinnell and last year’s league champion, Knox.

“If we would have at least split, we would be mathematically in the conference tournament,” said Sander. “It was very disappointing from the standpoint we were flat and not ready to play. Forget it’s your rival 15 miles away. Anytime you put the uniform on and step on the field, you should be motivated to play hard and try to win. We didn’t do that last weekend. Our pitching wasn’t that bad, our fielding wasn’t that bad, but our hitting was terrible.”

It wasn’t that the Scots never hit – they pounded out 21 hits in the double-header – but they never picked up more than two hits in an inning in either game.  Case in point: freshman Brad Winkler slugged three leadoff hits in Game 1 – including a double – but never scored.

“We got some hits, but not productive hits,” said Sander. “Sometimes 1-for-4 is better than 1-for-3. It depends on when you get that one hit.”

Knox combined timely hitting with some Scots’ misplays to knock Matt Bourne out of the opener in the sixth. Brian Chandler then came out of the bullpen to shut Knox down, striking out four and allowing just one run. Caleb Ruyle’s solo homer – the first of his collegiate career – gave the Scots their only run in the game.

It was more – or less, depending on how you look at it – of the same in Game 2. The Scots actually led 3-0 going into the bottom of the fifth on solo homers in the third and fifth by Jake Virgo and Tom Shaver plus an RBI single by Terry Davis to drive in Chad Kamm sandwiched in the fourth.

Knox then ended Robbie Hinkle’s school-record consecutive scoreless inning streak at 31.1 innings – Dan Dunn had held the record of 29 set in 2005 – with a pair of runs in the fifth. The sophomore fanned 10 batters in seven innings before turning the ball over to Drew Johnson in the eighth with the Scots trailing 5-3.

“We hit the ball hard all day,” reported Sander. “They got the key hit and made the plays when they needed to. We didn’t. Robbie pitched well. His slider was unbelievable. He threw a couple that major leaguers couldn’t have hit. We knew his scoreless inning streak was going to end some time, but his mentality is to go out there every inning and not give up a run. He got in trouble when he walked the 8 and 9 hitters to bring up their best hitter with runners on.”

The losses left the door open for Knox to repeat their late-season run from a year ago.

“At this time of year, it’s all about eliminating contenders,” said Sander. “We could have done that to Knox last week by simply splitting. Now, there’s less margin for error.”

Speaking of errors, Millikin committed six, count ‘em – six, errors last Thursday when the Scots clipped the Big Blue 8-6. Chandler picked up the win, fanning five and scattering a measly three hits. His performance was so dominating, the official scorer credited the starter with the win despite being pulled after the fourth inning – one short of the standard for awarding a win to the starter.

“He was dominant and in complete control,” said MU’s official scorer. “Coach Sander had planned to use four pitchers anyway, so it was obvious Chandler would have gotten the win had he gone five or more innings.”

Chandler got plenty of support – five runs in the first inning. Kamm connected for a two-run double, followed by Davis’ two-run homer and a Kevin Sashko solo jack.

Maybe Sashko should ask to be moved ahead of Kamm and Davis in the order to help his RBI total.

"We got up early and played well,” said Sander. “We wanted to use four pitchers and get our staff set up for the conference tournament. Brian was lights out. He’s our No. 3 guy and we’re going to need all those arms this weekend.”

Thanks to significant rainfall, this weekend may include four conference games – all against Grinnell.

A GREAT DAY FOR DUCKS

The focus for the track team shifted from improving performances to not getting injured at last weekend’s soggy Loras Open held in Dubuque, Iowa.

No team scores were kept at the season’s largest meet which featured cold, wet conditions.

“It was very cold, very rainy for nearly the entire meet,” reported Roger Haynes. “We pulled some kids out of the late races – the 200 and the 4x4. They had already run a race or two and it was just too cold and nasty. The only good thing about the weather was that it wasn’t windy. We made sure everyone got their primary race in. My focus turned to keeping our athletes safe and healthy.”

Despite the adverse conditions, a pair of field event Scots had the best performances of their careers. High jumper Heather Hull cleared a career-best height of 5’3” to tie for second. Sam Cokinos’ hammer throw of 138’8” was his personal-best by more than two feet and placed him 26^th.

“Heather jumped very well,” said Haynes. “She was very good technically. Sam handled the weather extremely well. Oddly enough, wet conditions can actually help in the hammer throw with the footwork. He’s making very good progress transferring his practice performance to the actual meet.”

A pair of provisional times in the prelims and finals of the 100-meter hurdles were turned in by Shannon Turczyn, although she had run faster times this season. The senior won the event in 14.93 after running a 14.83 in the prelims.

Katie Staab clocked a 5:00.69 in the 1500-meter run where she was fifth. Lindsie Pettie handled the slippery conditions in the 400-meter dash with a sixth-place finish. The sophomore clocked a 1:01.32. Amy Aghababian’s time of 2:31.59 claimed eighth in the 800-.

Three Scots placed in the top 10 of the women’s shot put and javelin. Gloria Lehr led both groups. Her shot put of 41’5” edged out Tanesha Hughes for fifth. Hughes threw the shot 40’8-1/2” and Amanda Streeter took 10^th with a throw of 39’5-1/4”. Lehr launched the javelin 115’10” to take fourth. Hull was eighth with a mark of 100’9” and Streeter’s throw of 90’11” placed her 10^th.

Hughes took third in the discus with a mark of 144’5” and Lehr placed seventh at 130’1”. Streeter placed 10^th in the hammer throw at 142’3”. Sarah Stinson tied for 10^th in the high jump, clearing 4’11”.

Shane Reschke had the men’s top individual track performance. The freshman’s time of 50.03 in the 400- placed him third. Alan Rosiquez ran a 35:25.55 to place seventh in the 10,000-.

Reschke, Kyle Prout, Aaron Daverin and Saidu Sesay finished second in the 4x100 relay. Their time of 42.56 was just .25 off the pace.

Damon Bautista and Geoff Bird ran career-bests in the 1500-. Bautista clocked a 4:09.13 to place 14^th and Bird ran to a 33^rd place finish in 4:15.89.

“Damon and Geoff ran very well in the 1500,” praised Haynes. “Both ran very good times, especially for those conditions.”

While Reschke had the men’s top performance on the track, Tyler Hannam turned in the best showing in the men’s field events. Hannam placed second in the high jump, clearing 6’5-1/2”. Matt Hassler was 10^th at 5’11-1/2”.

Just an inch-and-a-half separated Monmouth’s top two long jumpers. Nick Law soared 20’3-3/4” for a sixth-place finish and Michael Blodgett tied for ninth at 20’2-1/4”. Sean Wells’ 40’10-1/2” triple jump edged Blodgett for seventh. Blodgett triple jumped 40’9-3/4”.

In the throws, Peyton Lumzy threw the shot put 48’10-1/4” for a seventh-place finish. Cokinos was 10^th with a mark of 45’9-1/4”.

The Scots travel to Indiana State and the Indiana Pacesetter Open this weekend for their final tuneup before next weekend’s Midwest Conference Championships. The meet will have fewer teams than the Scots’ meet last weekend, but will feature some Division I programs.

“The Indiana meet will be pretty specific preparation for everyone,” said Haynes. “We’re hoping for good weather so we can get everyone in one solid race before next week’s conference meet. It’s nice to go to a meet where you run against unfamiliar opponents. It’s a smaller meet than last week, but with some high-level competition. We’re coming up on final exams, so we didn’t want to travel too far, but we still wanted to run against some good competition.”

BOOKENDS

The Fighting Scots’ women’s golf team saved their best for last – sort of.

In the season-ending St. Ambrose Invitational last weekend at Emeis Golf Course in Davenport, Iowa, the Scots’ 371 matched last fall’s opening round score at the Illinois College Invitational. The score tied the Scots for fourth in the field of eight teams, finishing in front of Augustana, Knox and Cornell.

“That’s the first time we’ve beaten Augustana in a long time,” reported Molly McNamara. “We did it on their home course.”

Lynsey Barnard and Kristin Humphrey shot identical 46-43-89s – Humphrey’s best round of the season – to tie for 12^th. Seniors Heidi Hartshorn and Jessica Sackville toured the course in 94 and 99, respectively and Kendra Catterton carded a 111.

“We knew we left a few strokes out on the course,” said McNamara. “We attribute that to the spring season and not being able to get outside and work on our game like we would prefer. Jessica didn’t play as well as she would have liked, but Heidi played some of her best golf in the last few rounds. Lynsey and Kristin played very well Saturday. That’s a positive sign going into next fall.”

Emeis was one of the few locations last weekend to not be adversely affected by rain. Monmouth took advantage with their second-best round of the entire year, better than any round of the conference championship last fall.

“We progressed very well over the spring,” claimed McNamara. “Everyone came along and improved. It’s exactly what we like to use our spring season for. We wanted to see where we’re heading in the fall. We expect the fall conference season to be wide open. We’ll have Lynsey back as our leading scorer and we have some solid returners. We’re pretty excited for the fall after our spring finish.”

SCOTS SCOOP NOTE… THREE TEAMS –MEN’S GOLF, MEN’S TENNISAND SOFTBALL – WILL BE COMPETING IN THEIR RESPECTIVE MIDWEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSIPS THIS WEEKEND. THE FOLLOWING THREE REPORTS PREVIEWS EACH TEAM’S TOURNAMENT

MEN’S GOLF – ON TIME, ON TARGET

The lowest scores of the season couldn’t have come at a better time for the men’s golf team.

The Fighting Scots enter the Midwest Conference Championships at Aldeen Golf Course in Rockford, Ill., this weekend with a scoring average of just over 308 during their last eight rounds, putting them in position to capture their fourth league title under coach Dave Ragone and their 11th overall. That average in the conference tournament would have been enough to defeat eight of Monmouth’s 10 previous championship teams. 

“I definitely like our chances this weekend,” said Ragone. “The guys are feeling very confident going in, but in my mind, Carroll is still the frontrunner. They’ve pretty much beaten every conference team they’ve played. I would count Grinnell and Knox as serious contenders as well. We’re just going to worry about what we do and let the chips fall where they may.”

Judging by the scores, most of the chips (and putts) have fallen Monmouth’s way. The Scots have three of the league’s 15 best individual rounds heading into the 54-hole weekend. Rodney Clayton’s 71 at the Millikin Invitational in March is the conference’s best 18-hole score. Ryan Tapscott’s 73 last weekend and Ted Starkey’s 75 – four times – are also among the MWC’s leaders. 

Clayton, a sophomore and Monmouth’s only returning all-conference player, narrowly edged junior transfer Starkey as the scoring leader of the six-man team. Clayton enters MWC play with a 78.0 stroke average, just one-tenth ahead of Starkey. Tapscott, a junior, isn’t far behind with a 78.8 average. Rounding out Ragone’s squad are junior Ryan Harvey (80.3) and seniors Jake Kilberg (81.1) and Greg Jones (81.3).

“Our goal with this group is to card four 77s each day and post a 308 or 310 and we’ll be fine,” said Ragone. “The amount of golf we’ve played, the competition we’ve faced and the toughness of the courses we’ve experienced have set us up for success at the conference level. The bottom line is we still have to go out there and perform.”

Performing well on the par-72 Aldeen course can be a difficult job. The 536-yard, par 5 first hole challenges players immediately with a water hazard and two-tiered green. It doesn’t get any easier on the par 4 second hole, guarded by fairway bunkers and sand along the edge of the green. Finally seeing a par three on No. 5 won’t make players breathe any easier, either. The front of the green is guarded by both a water hazard and a sand bunker. Aiming to the extreme right side of the green may help golfers avoid the hazards, but they will be left with an extremely long putt. The finishing hole on 18 features water the length of the fairway and a brutal three-tiered green.

“Course experience at Aldeen is very important,” said Ragone. “All our guys, except Ted, have course experience at Aldeen. It sets up much like Panther Creek in Springfield which is the course Ted grew up on, so we should be in good shape. I think he will adapt quite well to the course.”

The Scots will be paired with Carroll and Illinois College for a 12:52 p.m. tee time on Thursday. Friday, Monmouth gets an early start with St. Norbert and Lawrence at 9:00 a.m. The team champion receives the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division III championships held in Port St. Lucie, Fla., May 10-15.

MEN’S TENNIS – NET GAIN

For the third time in four years, the men’s tennis team has qualified for the team portion of the Midwest Conference tournament.

Chad Braun’s Fighting Scots enter the team tournament as the No. 2 seed in the South Division, meaning Monmouth will face North Division top seed St. Norbert in the semifinals Friday morning. It will be the second meeting between the two teams this season. The Scots fell to the Green Knights 5-4 three weeks ago in De Pere, Wis.

“We lost to them earlier in a very close match,” said Braun. “It came down to the last match. I expect it to be another very tight match. Hopefully, we can find a way to get it done.”

In the April 9 meeting, the Scots dropped two of the three doubles matches and one of the losses occurred in a 9-8 tie-breaker. The Scots were doomed when they failed to pull out any singles matches that went the full three sets.

That hasn’t been the case recently. Monmouth won four of the five singles matches that went the distance last week with Lake Forest to earn this year’s berth. Senior Kyle Korb won the lone match that didn’t go to three sets, winning 7-5, 7-5.

“I like the way we’re playing right now,” said Braun. “Obviously, Grinnell is the cream of the crop, but after that, there are four very similar teams. St. Norbert and Lawrence are very similar to us and Lake Forest. We knocked Lake Forest out of the picture last week so, unfortunately for them, they’re staying home. We’d like to get a little redemption against St. Norbert.”

If Monmouth can get by St. Norbert in the semis, they’ll likely face Grinnell, although should Lawrence pull the upset over the Pioneers Friday morning, the Scots will face a team they’ve played – and beaten – in the finals.

“It’s just a matter of who plays well on that day,” said Braun of the possible finals matchup.

The Scots expect to get three and perhaps four top-four seeds when it comes to singles play on Saturday. Senior Eric Brandhorst at No. 3 and freshman Chris Utterback at No. 4 are likely No. 2 seeds. Both have rebounded from a slow start to record 7-3 marks over the last 10 matches. Korb is projected for the third seed at No. 1 and sophomore Sam Graf could get the three or four seed at No. 2. Tyler Lampe, a freshman playing at No. 5, missed the St. Norbert and Lawrence matches with an injury, and could be a bit of an unknown when it comes to the coaches’ seeding. Sophomore Ben Morrow, the usual No. 6 man, played up in Lampe’s absence and may not receive a seeding in his normal slot.

“It could be tough for Tyler or Ben to get seeded right now,” claimed Braun. “Ben might have a shot at getting a seed now that he’s moved back to his usual spot. At conference there are always upsets and it depends on who is playing well at that time. We feel like we could have some title contenders, but we have to play well.”

When it comes to Sunday’s doubles competition, the Scots are in good shape there as well. After tweaking the doubles teams, Braun has settled on what he believes is his most productive combinations.

Korb and Utterback – 6-4 over their last 10 matches – will be paired at No. 1 doubles, Brandhorst and Graf form the No. 2 team where they have a 4-2 record and at No. 3 it’s Lampe and Morrow.

“I think Kyle and Chris at No. 1 have a shot at being the two or three seed,” said Braun. “We’re hoping for a three seed for Eric and Sam at No. 2. At No. 3, Ben and Tyler didn’t have a chance to play against St. Norbert and Lawrence, so they’ll be an unknown in the seeding meeting.

“We’re as healthy as we’ve even been,” Braun continued. “We played our best tennis of the year Saturday. I’m really proud of how these guys have come along. We’re ready to go and see what we can do.”

What they’re hoping to do is improve on their third-place finish in 2006 and return with a top-two finish for the first time since 1938 when the legendary Bobby Woll brought the Scots home with their one and only men’s conference tennis title.

SOFTBALL – IT’S ANYBODY’S GAME

For the first time since the 2003-04 seasons, Monmouth College will be making back-to-back appearances at the Midwest Conference Softball Championships.

The Scots punched their ticket to the post-season with a 4-0 win over Grinnell Tuesday behind the solid pitching of reigning South Division Pitcher of the Year Sarah Christensen and the timely hitting of freshman Jessica Markley.

Holding a precarious 2-0 lead in the top of the seventh, head coach John Goddard called Markley off the bench with two outs. With two strikes, the left-handed slugger fought off a couple of tough pitches before shooting a two-run single into left, giving the Scots a pair of much-needed insurance runs.

“Sarah was very good,” said Goddard of his pitcher’s clutch performance. “Jessica’s hit really took the wind out of Grinnell’s sail and Sarah finished them off in the bottom of the inning.”

The Scots will travel to Ripon, Wis., for the four-team league tournament this Friday and Saturday. At stake is a league title and the NCAA Regional Tournament berth that goes with it.

While the Scots’ chances may look bleak on paper – they’re just 1-3 against the tournament field of St. Norbert, Ripon and Lake Forest – Goddard sees it as anyone’s championship to win.

“The field is really wide open this year,” said last year’s South Division Coach of the Year. “There isn’t any team in the field that can’t win the tournament. We split with Lake Forest (9-2, 6-10) and lost in the last inning to both Ripon (4-3) and St. Norbert (a deceptive 17-5 score) at the Midwest Classic. We led St. Norbert 5-3 in the seventh until the wheels fell off.”

Lake Forest split with St. Norbert and Ripon at the Classic two weeks ago – defeating the Green Knights 9-0 and falling to the Red Hawks 4-3.

Ripon, Monmouth’s first-round opponent, is the only team in the field above .500 at 18-12. Both Monmouth and Lake Forest had to finish the season with wins to get to the break-even mark. St. Norbert enters Wednesday’s regular season finale with an 11-16 record. Like the South qualifiers, the North teams also split their double-header.

The Scots emerged from a seven-game losing streak to qualify for their second tournament appearance under Goddard. Unlike the streak, the Scots are now healthy and have all the pieces in their normal places.

Those pieces include the Scots’ pitching staff, which has an 0.27 ERA over the last four games, and five regulars hitting over .300, led by freshman speedster Lauren Bergstresser (.374) and her school-record 23 stolen bases. The Scots boast the league’s third-best team batting average. At .286, they’re slightly ahead of St. Norbert.

Monmouth’s bats will be put to the test in the opener with the Red Hawks and their 1.90 team ERA. The tourney hosts are led by career strikeout leader and last year’s North Division Pitcher of the Year, Andrea Knorr.

In the April 18 meeting with Ripon, Scots’ freshman b matched the veteran pitch-for-pitch until an error in the seventh opened the door.

“Ellissa took the loss in the Ripon game, but pitched very well,” reported Goddard. “She’s actually pitched very well in her last two starts, but we haven’t scored the runs. Our entire pitching staff (Christensen, Sexton, Amanda Murdock, Ashley Tocha and Megan Butler) has really pitched extremely well down the stretch. If we can get the same quality pitching from them, we have a shot at winning every game.”

The field is exactly the way the pre-season coaches poll predicted it would be – Ripon and Lake Forest No. 1 in the North and the South, St. Norbert and Monmouth the No. 2 teams. Ripon (2008), St. Norbert (2007) and Lake Forest (2006) have won the last three titles. The Foresters actually won five straight from 2002-06. Monmouth’s last league title came in 1987.

Goddard is hoping they’re due.

FIRST-TIME CONFERENCE HONOR

A standout performance in the circle last week has earned Amanda Murdock (Aledo, Ill./Aledo) her first Midwest Conference Softball Pitcher of the Week award.

Murdock, a senior right-hander, threw the best game of her three-year career with the Fighting Scots last Thursday. She didn’t allow an earned run in six full innings of work in a 2-1 loss to Cornell. The Rams’ only runs came via two errors in the fifth inning. Murdock hadn’t allowed a runner past first in her three-strikeout, three-hit performance until the fatal fifth. The senior’s stellar outing came just two days after she worked 3.1 innings in a 10-2 loss to Augustana.

For the week, Murdock posted a 3.00 ERA, more than a full run below her season average.

SEASON’S LAST CONFERENCE HONOR

Ryan Tapscott (Port Byron, Ill./Riverdale) shot a season-best last week and was rewarded with the golf season’s final Performer of the Week honor.

Tapscott tuned up for this weekend’s Midwest Conference Championships with a tie for second place at the Scot-Fire Invitational. In the 36-hole tournament played on two different courses, the junior helped the Fighting Scots to a third place finish as the Scots fired a 304-300-604 – their lowest 36-hole score of the season. Friday at Soangetaha Country Club, Tapscott fired a 75, tying his season low. On his home course at Gibson Wood Golf Course Saturday, Tapscott improved on his season-best by carding a 2-over 73.

BUSINESS AS USUAL

Happy Anniversary, Mrs. Scots Scoop.

The Scoop takes no holidays, weekends, birthdays, Valentine’s Days OR anniversaries. Fortunately, Mrs. Scoop understands that’s the nature of the business – and it doesn’t hurt that she’s also a sports fan. That’s why she won’t mind Mr. Scoop working on their 26^th anniversary thanks to today’s baseball triple-header at Glasgow Field. They’ll just celebrate tomorrow.

No, wait. There’s conference golf, tennis and softball to take care of. They’ll do it Saturday. Oops, there’s more conference action and a home baseball game. Can’t make it in the afternoon, maybe a late dinner?

How about Sunday? No, baseball plays their final conference games at Grinnell and that could determine the playoff berths. That information will need to be put on the web.

You get the idea. Maybe The Scoop should have his people call her people and they’ll do lunch.

How’s Monday looking?

THE WEEK AHEAD

Thurs., Apr. 30
Men’s Golf – at MWC Championships, Aldeen G.C., Rockford, Ill., 12:52 pm
Baseball – hosts MacMurray (1), 1:00 pm
Baseball – hosts Robert Morris-Springfield (1), 4:00 pm 

Fri., May 1
Men’s Tennis – at MWC Team Tournament, 8:00 am
Men’s Golf – at MWC Championships, Aldeen G.C., Rockford, Ill., 9:00 am
Softball – at MWC Tournament, Ripon, Wis., Noon and TBD 

Sat., May 2
Men’s Golf – at MWC Championships, Aldeen G.C., Rockford, Ill., TBD
Track – at Indiana Pacesetter Open, 9:00 am
Softball – at MWC Tournament, TBA
Men’s Tennis – at MWC Singles Tournament, 8:00 am
Baseball – hosts Grinnell, 1:00 pm

 Sun., May 3
Men’s Tennis – at MWC Doubles Tournament, 8:00 am
Baseball – at Grinnell (2), 1:00 pm 

Mon., May 4
Baseball – at Illinois Wesleyan (1), 6:00 pm 

Wed., May 6
Baseball – at Robert Morris-Springfield (1) 6:00 pm

 SCOTSIVATIONAL

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” - Winston Churchill