MONMOUTH, Ill. - If it was the goal of the Monmouth College Fighting Scots to prove they belonged among the elite baseball teams in the nation, call it mission accomplished. However, the Scots fell short of their goal of reaching next week’s Division III Baseball Championships in Appleton, Wis., falling 4-0 to Carthage College in the championship game of the Monmouth Regional Sunday at Glasgow Field.

The Redmen’s Jason Wiertel tossed a brilliant four-hit shutout to slam the door on the Scots’ bid to force the “if necessary” title game on Monday. Wiertel, who was an All-American for Carthage during the basketball season, walked two and struck out five in his gem. Monmouth put only three runners in scoring position and only one runner reached third. On that occasion, which came with two outs, Wiertel induced an inning-ending grounder to third.

The Scots, meanwhile, dodged numerous Carthage scoring attempts through seven innings, with Adam Husing’s leadoff homer in the bottom of the fourth producing the game’s only run to that point. But in the eighth, two hit batsmen opened the door again and, on back-to-back pitches, Mike Giddings singled in one run and Dave Fellin doubled home two more.

Monmouth reached the title game by topping Aurora University, the nation’s third-ranked team and top regional seed, for the second time in three days. While ace hurler Ryan Johnson did the honors with a shutout on Friday, it was unheralded freshman Mason Abner who defused the high-octane Spartans on Sunday. He picked up his first collegiate victory by throwing seven innings of six-hit ball in the 2-1 victory.

Monmouth did all its scoring in the top of the fourth inning, starting with a Steve Glasgow single and a Jason Riney double. Taylor Thiel’s sacrifice fly plated one run and Jeremy Hamilton drove home the other on a single. Aurora got one back in the bottom of the sixth on Bob Grapenthien’s RBI-single, but Adam Schweitzer came on to get the final six outs and the save.

The All-Tournament Team included pitchers Wiertel and teammate Brandon Roth, as well as Carthage’s Luke Martin (1B), Husing (2B), Fellin (SS), Justin Hallock (3B), Kyle Mallon (OF) and Dennis Jackson (OF). Monmouth’s Joe Larkins (DH) and Taylor Thiel (C) made the squad, as did Aurora’s Jack Dime (OF). Roth, who won Carthage’s first two games, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the regional.

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