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SCOTS SCOOP – March 28, 2007 – Vol. 7, No. 34
NETTERS DOMINANT IN SWEEP
The Fighting Scots tennis team certainly has strength at the top of its
lineup with senior Jared Kunkle (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) and its No. 1
doubles team of Kunkle and sophomore Kyle Korb (Quincy, Ill./Quincy). But
lately, the spotlight has shown on the back third of the lineup, as
seniors Alex Carter (Wilton, Iowa/Wilton) and Greg Bouslog (Princeton,
Ill./Princeton) have been dominant.
Carter stretched his singles winning streak to eight matches with
victories Saturday over his opponents from Beloit and Westminster during
the Scots’ 9-0 and 8-1 victories. Bouslog dropped only four games all day
while winning twice at No. 6 singles and twice with Carter at No. 3
doubles. The senior pair has now won five straight doubles matches.
Kunkle, Korb and junior Matt Moser (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) also
went 2-0 in singles on the day, and Monmouth was undefeated in doubles
action.
The wins improved the Scots’ record to 7-4 on the year, and Monmouth hopes
to stretch its winning streak to four matches with victories this Saturday
in Bloomington, Ill., against Illinois Wesleyan and Carroll.
CHANDLER, ALBANESE PITCH SCOTS TO WINS
It’s been a productive 24 hours for the Fighting Scots baseball team.
Not only did Monmouth defeat Eureka 8-6 on Tuesday, but the team learned
early on Wednesday that a recent defeat had been wiped from the books by
the NCAA.
The Scots were defeated 15-0 and 10-0 on Saturday in St. Louis by Missouri
Baptist. Both games were shortened by the mercy rule, with the first game
lasting only five innings. That might have met the criteria for the NAIA,
of which Missouri Baptist is a member, but it’s not enough to be
classified as a contest by the NCAA.
So, for the record, the Scots have four wins and nine losses as they
travel to Iowa Wesleyan today for a single game at 3 p.m.
In another ruling, the five-inning game against Missouri Baptist and a
contest in Arizona vs. Westminster that was called due to darkness will
count against Monmouth’s total of 34 regular season games. That means the
most pre-playoff contests the Scots will play this year is 32.
Sandwiched in between the Missouri Baptist games and the win over Eureka
was a 13-6 victory at Robert Morris-Springfield on Sunday. Monmouth’s busy
week started last Wednesday with a 12-3 loss to Augustana.
Against Eureka, six hit batters, four passed balls, two wild pitches and
three errors helped the Scots stay in control throughout. Without the
benefit of any of those plays, Monmouth got some immediate breathing room
in the first frame, stringing together five singles and a walk to take a
4-0 advantage. Senior Jeremy Kafka (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) had an RBI
single on his way to a 3-for-4 day, and Monmouth stretched its lead to 8-2
in the fourth after three straight batters were hit by a pitch. Junior
Nate Palkovic (Peoria, Ill./Woodruff) followed with a run-scoring single
and sophomore Mark Allemang (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle) drove in another run
with a sacrifice fly.
Freshman Chris Albanese (Lansing, Ill./Thornton Fractional South) worked
the first five frames to earn the victory, scattering five hits and a
walk, and sophomore Drew Johnson (North Henderson, Ill./United) also
looked sharp, pitching two hitless frames.
“Chris didn’t have his best stuff, but he pitched,” said MC coach Roger
Sander. “Drew Johnson threw great, and Ross Reedy (Monmouth,
Ill./Monmouth) just got victimized by a couple errors. We always thought
our pitching would come around. The major concern of late has been our
fielding.”
Added Sander, “We got up early, which is something we haven’t been doing.
We could have even scored more, but we left 13 runners on base. We left
the bases loaded twice.”
Following Monmouth’s rough day at Missouri Baptist, which, unofficially,
featured 13 errors and 20 unearned runs, the Scots rebounded Sunday at
Springfield’s Lanphier Park. They pounded out 14 hits, including two
apiece by Kafka, Palkovic, sophomore Kevin Sashko (Mundelein,
Ill./Mundelein) and juniors Ryan Stubler (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie
Ridge) and Ryan Priola (St. Charles, Ill./East).
Palkovic put the Scots ahead to stay in the third with a two-run double,
and Priola drove in three runs on the day. Sophomore Brian Chandler
(Petersburg, Ill./Athens) earned his second victory of the season,
pitching six innings of five-hit ball.
“We hit the ball really well, and Brian Chandler was excellent,” said
Sander. “Our pitching was good all weekend. We only gave up five earned
runs against Missouri Baptist, and they’re a very good NAIA school.”
Last Wednesday’s game against Augustana still hung in the balance when
Chandler came on to relieve Priola in he top of the fifth. The visiting
Vikings led 4-0 and had loaded the bases when Sander made his call to the
’pen. Myles Kurnick, who had five RBIs on the day, greeted Chandler with a
two-run single, and Augustana went on to break the game open with a
six-run inning.
Monmouth's offense came in the sixth, when Priola had a two-run double and
Kafka added a sacrifice fly.
The following day, Monmouth’s JV dropped a 5-3, 4-1 doubleheader to
Lincoln Community College. Allemang had two hits in the opener. Scots
pitchers allowed just 13 hits, two walks and six earned runs in their 14
innings of work.
SCOTS 1-FOR-2 ON DIAMOND RARITIES
The highlight of Monmouth’s week in softball – heck, for a while, it
had the makings of being a major highlight in the softball team’s history
– occurred last Wednesday in the nightcap of a doubleheader at MacMurray.
Freshman Valerie Mitchell (Port Byron, Ill./Riverdale) flirted with a
perfect game before settling for a 5-3 victory that gave Monmouth a split
against the host Highlanders. Mitchell retired the first 15 batters she
faced, striking out nine of them, as the Scots took a 5-0 lead into the
bottom of the sixth.
It got dicey from there, though, as seven Highlanders reached base in the
final two frames, including Stephanie Hill, who broke up the perfect game
with a leadoff single in the sixth. Sophomore Amanda Murdock (Aledo,
Ill./Aledo) came on in the seventh to earn the save as MacMurray left the
tying runs stranded.
“Her pitches have a lot of movement, a lot of spin,” said MC coach Kari
Shimmin. “They were fouling pitches off, and then she was getting them to
swing and miss. Only one of her strikeouts was looking.”
Senior Drew Robinson (St. Charles, Ill./North) had an RBI double and
scored twice to carry the offense. The center fielder went 4-for-6 on the
day, raising her average to .515.
“Drew has a lot of different options when she’s up to the plate,” said
Shimmin of the lefty swinger. “She can bunt, she can slap and she can hit
away. She looks at the defense and decides what to do. We hope she can
keep up her success during our conference games (which start April 21).”
The opener, which Monmouth lost 2-1, was a well-played game that was
decided when the Highlanders' Lee Miller slapped a two-out RBI single in
the fourth to break a 1-1 tie.
Freshman Maggie Dort (Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond-Burton) had an RBI
single for the Scots, while sophomore Sarah Christensen (Galesburg,
Ill./Galesburg) suffered the hard-luck loss.
Following a rainout Saturday, the Scots then faced the unenviable task of
playing the CCIW’s two top-ranked teams. Illinois Wesleyan entered
Tuesday’s contest as the No. 11 team in the nation, and the Titans emerged
with a 9-3, 11-0 twinbill sweep. Monmouth will host Augustana, the
nation’s No. 25 team in today’s poll, at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
The Titans certainly lived up to their billing, totaling 20 runs and 30
hits in a doubleheader sweep. Both games were decided early, as the Titans
scored six runs in the first inning of the opener and five in the second
of the nightcap.
“Wesleyan was a complete team,” praised Shimmin. “Everyone in their lineup
could hit. They bunted and they slapped and they took advantage of our
defense.”
The Scots' bright spots were limited to a pair of three-hit performances.
Dort was 3-for-5 on the day and Robinson had three hits in seven at-bats,
allowing her to maintain a lofty .500 average.
Ultimately, Monmouth didn’t get its perfect game last week, but during
Spring Break, the Scots did experience another of the sport’s rare
moments, recording a triple play during a 6-1 loss to Lakeland.
The Muskies started the fifth inning with back-to-back singles, putting
runners on first and second. Lakeland’s Elisa Waltz hit a soft, sinking
liner on the infield. Scots’ shortstop Emily Willems (Moline, Ill./Rockridge)
charged in and made a shoestring catch, then threw to first to easily
double up that runner. Senior first baseman Jackie Hennenfent (Wataga,
Ill./ROWVA) saw that the runner on second didn’t know the liner had been
caught, so she fired to second baseman Katie Hamilton (Savanna,
Ill./Savanna) to complete the triple play.
“My first reaction was surprise,” said Shimmin. “Everybody was just in the
right place at the right time. One thing that was nice about it was that
the players didn’t even need to communicate. It was just instinct, and
they all went where they needed to be.”
Said Hennenfent, “I’d never seen a triple play, let alone be a part of
one. After we realized it was for real, we were all really excited that it
happened.”
ROGER SANDER: A KID YOU WOULD TAKE TO LUNCH
A week ago in this space, Scots Scoop chronicled the history of the
double-double at Monmouth. However, an important chunk of the story was
missing – Roger Sander’s senior season – and we’re glad we went out in the
meantime and found it.
The Fighting Scots’ 1977-78 season was arguably the best campaign in
school history that did not end with a playoff appearance. The team posted
an overall record of 15-5 and went 7-3 in the Midwest Conference. Monmouth
lost by one point against Central, by two vs. Ripon and by three against
Carleton. A 93-87 loss to Knox in the regular season finale brought an
abrupt end to the year.
Monmouth’s worst loss was a 99-88 setback at Coe, but the Fighting Scots
earned a measure of revenge with a 124-93 home victory over the Kohawks.
Nearly three decades later, those 124 points remain the school scoring
record for a game not involving Grinnell (as well as the scoring record
prior to the advent of the three-point shot and the shot clock).
Predictably, Sander was heavily involved in the win, scoring 27 points and
grabbing 22 rebounds.
In fact, Sander had as many 20-20 games as a senior (seven) as most post
players have regular double-doubles. He had 23 points and 21 boards in the
season opener vs. MacMurray and had exactly 28 points and either 22 or 21
rebounds in three consecutive games toward the end of the year.
For the season, Sander had at least 15 double-doubles (with rebound
information missing from four games). That pushes Sander’s verified career
total to 45 double-doubles.
“The two main keys that I used were position and anticipating that every
shot would miss,” said Sander. “Even if it was my own teammate going in
for a layup, I just took the attitude that shot would be missed.
Rebounding is not about jumping ability or size. It’s a position game.”
Sander said that he learned to appreciate rebounds at an early age when he
would stand near the basket while his older brother shot.
“It was shoot ’til you miss, and my brother was a great shooter, so he
didn’t miss much,” said Sander. “When he did, I made sure I got the
rebound so I could have my turn. I also looked at rebounding as the
easiest way to get points.”
Besides his school-record 939 rebounds, Sander also excelled in scoring,
finishing his career with 1,251 points, which remains good for seventh on
the all-time list.
Perhaps the most interesting nugget uncovered from our research was an
article that ran near the end of the season. It featured coach Terry
Glasgow recapping Sander’s career and dishing out a healthy amount of
praise. That would be standard fare except for the fact that today, 29
years later, the pair is still together at Monmouth College.
Glasgow mentioned in the article that he told Sander to shed some weight
in the off-season between his freshman and sophomore years. Sander
responded by dropping 35 pounds, and Glasgow was impressed, plugging him
into a dominant role immediately during the 1975-76 season.
“I don’t know if you had all the qualifications to build a better athlete,
you could build one better than Roger Sander,” said Glasgow, who added, “I
had never seen him bounce a ball, but I wanted him at Monmouth College
because of his personal qualifications. He’s the kind of kid you invite to
lunch.
“I don’t think I could have asked anything of Roger that he wouldn’t give
me without having to ask,” Glasgow concluded. “Roger Sander is a whale of
ballplayer and a great person.”
RAIN THROWS GOLFERS OFF COURSE
Both days of last weekend’s Prairie Fire Classic in Galesburg were
called off due to rain, so the Fighting Scots have found a pair of
single-day events to add to their schedule. Coach Dave Ragone’s team will
play April 9 in Springfield at the Panther Creek Golf Club and on April 22
at the Broadlands Golf Club in North Prairie, Wis.
Next up on the golfers’ schedule is the Loras Duhawk Spring Invitational,
a two-day event in Iowa that will be played at The Meadows Golf Course and
Thunder Hills Country Club.
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