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April 29, 1998 With the Midwest Conference South Division title and the right to host the conference postseason tournament on the line, the Monmouth College men’s baseball team stepped to the plate Tuesday afternoon and pounded out a doubleheader sweep against Illinois College at Bobby Woll Athletic Field by scores of 3-1 and 14-9. The Fighting Scots raised their season record to 13-10 and clinched their 17th South Division title in the last 20 years with an 8-1 league mark. The Blueboys fall to 18-15 and 7-5 but are still in second place in the division. The Scots turned in a solid effort in the first game to back up the four-hit pitching of sophomore Brad Davis (Galesburg,IL/HS). Davis threw a complete game for his fourth win of the season (4-4, 3-1 MWC). He allowed a single run in the second inning but Monmouth responded in their half with an RBI double by Shawn Hickey (Galesburg,IL/HS), one of three two-baggers by the sophomore infielder in the game. Designated hitter Jay Turnbull (Chatham,IL/Glenwood) then delivered a two-run single with one out in the third which proved to be the game winner for Monmouth. In the second game the Monmouth bats came to life and Hickey stayed in the zone. He stroked five consecutive singles to finish a perfect 8-for-8 on the day as MC out-slugged the Blueboys 14-9 to complete the sweep. With a 3-2 lead heading into the fifth inning the Scots struck for five runs, highlighted by a two-run double by senior Scott Beeler (Warsaw,IL/HS). Beeler and Jim Herget (Dunlap,IL/HS) each collected three RBI for Monmouth in the game. Monmouth sealed the victory with another five-run outburst in the eighth inning. An RBI triple by Herget started the scoring and senior Dustin Salmon (Pekin,IL/HS) cleared the bases with the Scots' first grand-slam home run of the season to put the game on ice. Sophomore Matt Carlson (Frankfort,IL/Lincoln-Way) (6-0, 4-0) remained unbeaten on the season despite allowing 18 IC hits and 9 runs. Monmouth hosts Knox in a rescheduled MWC doubleheader on Friday at Bobby Woll Field to complete their conference season. The Scots are also scheduled to play MacMurray in a non-conference game on Saturday prior to hosting the MWC conference playoffs at Woll Field on May 8 and 9. |
