SCOTS GO 1-FOR-4 IN GAMES PLAYED

A relatively mild March ended on a sour note Saturday, causing Monmouth’s Midwest Conference-opening doubleheader at Grinnell to be pushed back to April 9. The Fighting Scots hoped to be able to get in some work Tuesday in a non-conference game at MacMurray, but that, too, was postponed, leaving last Wednesday’s 10-4 victory at Iowa Wesleyan as the Scots’ only action in the past seven days.

After playing to a 2-2 tie through the first seven innings in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, Monmouth's offense shifted into high gear. Junior Ryan Priola (St. Charles, Ill./East) followed sophomore Kevin Sashko’s tiebreaking single with a two-run double in the eighth and freshman Beesan Hryckiewicz (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) launched a grand slam homer in the ninth.

The late-game heroics meant that sophomore Matt Bourne (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic), who pitched the bottom of the seventh, earned the victory. Junior Ryan Stubler (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) got the last six outs to notch the save, and he also had three hits.

Priola and senior Jeremy Kafka (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) were both 3-for-5, and Hryckiewicz, Sashko and junior Nate Palkovic (Peoria, Ill./Woodruff) each added two hits. Kafka, who also had three hits on March 27 against Eureka, was named the Midwest Conference’s Performer of the Week.

Sophomore Chris Schwarz (Moline, Ill./Moline) pitched the first four innings, allowing one run on four hits.

Weather-permitting, the Scots will open their MWC season Saturday at Illinois College, followed by the make-up doubleheader Monday at Grinnell. The MacMurray game will be made up as part of a doubleheader at Glasgow Field on May 3. The start time that day has been moved up an hour to 2 p.m.

PARER, BELL RIGHT SCOTS’ SHIP

As the Fighting Scots traveled to Terre Haute, Ind., for Sunday’s doubleheader against the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, they did so accompanied by a four-game losing skid. Thanks to heroics from a trio of players, the ride home was a joyful one, as the Scots’ passenger was a two-game winning streak.

In chronological order, Monmouth’s first star was freshman Kembra Bell (Beardstown, Ill./Beardstown), who drove in the first five runs of the game. Included in her run production was a two-run double in the fifth and a two-run single in the sixth to stake the Scots to a 5-2 lead.

The hosts rallied off MC starter Sarah Christensen (Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg) to force extra innings, but that’s when the next Scot came up big. Sophomore Ashley Parer (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) blasted a two-run homer over the center field fence, and Christensen made the 7-5 lead stand up, pitching out of a two-on, one-out jam in the bottom of the eighth.

The nightcap belonged to freshman Valerie Mitchell (Port Byron, Ill./Riverdale), who went the seven-inning distance and scattered seven hits as the Scots won 4-2. Bell continued her big day with Monmouth's first RBI in the nightcap, and senior Jackie Hennenfent (Wataga, Ill./ROWVA) and junior Anna Coutts (Ladd, Ill./Hall) added run-scoring hits as the Scots produced all their scoring in the third.

Junior Emily Willems (Moline, Ill./Rockridge) had four hits in the opener and senior Drew Robinson (St. Charles, Ill./North) was 5-for-8 on the day, extending her hitting streak to eight games and raising her average to .509. Robinson was named the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week after hitting .500 in the Scots’ six games.

Last Thursday, the Scots finished off a tough stretch of four games vs. nationally-ranked teams by dropping both ends of a doubleheader vs. Augustana. The visiting Vikings won 5-2 in the opener before scoring seven unearned runs in the nightcap to complete the sweep with a 10-0 victory.

Christensen held the Vikings in check in the opener, scattering seven hits and allowing three runs through five innings. Coutts' first career home run, a solo shot in the fifth, cut the Scots' deficit to 3-2, but the Vikings added some breathing room with a home run of their own in the seventh.

The Scots were stymied in the nightcap by Augustana's Jordan Huff, who earned the victory after notching the save with two hitless innings in the first game. The Scots managed just three hits and hurt their cause with five errors.

Monmouth is not scheduled to play again until the five-game MWC Crossover in Janesville, Wis., April 14-15. However, coach Kari Shimmin is trying to work out details to make up a total of five games that were postponed in March.

BACK ON TRACK: SCOTS START OUTDOOR SEASON

After a four-week break from competition for most of the Monmouth College track team, the Fighting Scots returned to action Saturday at the Viking Olympics, hosted by Augustana College. On a day filled with storms that eventually halted the meet with several events remaining, senior Alex Stuart (Kirkwood, Ill./Yorkwood) was the Scots’ star.

An All-American earlier in the month in the triple jump, Stuart did not compete in that event Saturday. Rather, he threw the javelin and posted a first-place throw of 191'2 that qualified him provisionally for the national outdoor meet. The big throw earned him Performer of the Week honors in men’s field events from the Midwest Conference.

Monmouth’s other winner on the day was senior Dante Daniels (Waukegan, Ill./Gurnee-Warren), who sprinted to victory in the 100-meter dash in 10.79. Placing fifth and seventh in the event were senior Tyler Rundle (11.14) and sophomore Luke Reschke (11.38).

Junior pole vaulters Jonny Henkins (Kewanee, Ill./Kewanee) and Peter Sprecher (Canton, Ill./Canton) were also solid, each clearing a provisional-qualifying height of 15'11 to tie for second, and senior high jumper Tim Frank (6'2) also had a top two finish.

With several other standouts joining Stuart by not competing in their specialty events, either by design or due to the storm, the men placed third out of 19 teams with 76 points, while the women placed sixth out of 18 teams, scoring 54.5 points.

The women’s throwers had three high marks, with Gloria Lehr (Knoxville, Ill./Knoxville) taking second in the javelin (104'0) and sophomore Tanesha Hughes (Peoria, Ill./Woodruff) and junior Jen Babos (Leland, Ill./Somonauk) placing third and fourth in the discus (135'6 and 135'0). Hughes’ effort was her personal best. Junior Megan McKenna (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) placed third in the triple jump (34'4) and cleared 11'0 in the pole vault to take fifth, while classmate Megan Clennon (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) cleared 5'1 in the high jump to place sixth.

"I think Gloria was going to have a pretty big day," said Haynes. "She did very well in the javelin, which should be the weakest of her three throws. Her 104’0 throw is a good start for a freshman."

Other individuals who scored for the Scots were senior Brandon Hurckes (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) in the 55-meter hurdles (16.10) and freshman April Campen (Hanna City, Ill./Farmington) and senior Andrea Emery (Knoxville, Ill./Knoxville) in the high jump (both 4'11).

The women’s distance medley team of freshman Amy Aghababian (St. Charles, Ill./Central), seniors Sara Ingersoll (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth) and Joni Nelson (Little York, Ill./Yorkwood) and sophomore Katey Vaccarello (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) broke the school record with their fifth-place time of 13:26.68.

"The focus was on relays, not on individual events," said Haynes. "If we’d been able to finish the whole meet, most of our distance runners and our sprinters would have been in two or three races apiece."

Among Monmouth’s relay results, Haynes was happy to see sophomore sprinter Ashly Lowdermilk (Princeton, Ill./Princeton) compete for the first time in more than a year, and he also pointed out sophomore Jacob Stott’s 49.3 split in the 400-meter leg of the sprint medley relay.

The men’s distance medley team of seniors Zach Barr (Roseville, Ill./Roseville) and Kel Bond (Dixon, Ill./Dixon), junior Aaron Etienne (Elburn, Ill./Kaneland) and senior Josh Reschke (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo) took second (10:21.95), while the 4x100 squad of freshman Tony Bradford (Peoria, Ill./Manual), Daniels, sophomore Aaron Daverin (Herscher, Ill./Herscher) and Rundle placed third (42.17).

"We saw a number of good things, even though we missed out on a fair amount of events," said Haynes, who will take his teams to Iowa for the Wartburg Select Meet on Saturday.

SCOTS COVER FOR KUNKLE, TOP TITANS

Coach Chad Braun could certainly sympathize with how his No. 1 singles player, senior Jared Kunkle (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap), was feeling on Monday. Kunkle was suffering the effects of the flu, much like Braun was when he had to cancel two road matches in Wisconsin in February.

That left six healthy players for Monday’s match at Illinois Wesleyan University and, by rule, all of them had to move up a slot in the singles lineup. The group was up to the task, though, and Monmouth hung on for a 6-3 victory, extending their winning streak to four matches and improving to 9-4 on the year. The streak also includes a 9-0 win on Saturday vs. visiting Carroll.

When Monmouth’s revamped lineup was announced minutes before Monday’s match, it meant that two former high school doubles players were going to go head-to-head. At No. 3 singles, junior Matt Moser (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) drew IWU’s Paul Oehrlein, a player he had never defeated head-to-head.

"He played like he was playing before the conference championships last year," said Braun. "That was a big win."

In addition, Moser stepped up big in doubles action, joining classmate Kevin Kamenjarin (Alsip, Ill./Marist) for an 8-3 victory. Due to injury, Moser has been left out of the doubles lineup most of the season, but his strong play will give Braun some options as the Scots’ season enters "crunch time."

Other singles winners Monday were sophomore Kyle Korb (Quincy, Ill./Quincy) and seniors Alex Carter (Wilton, Iowa/Wilton) and Greg Bouslog (Princeton, Ill./Princeton). Carter and Bouslog also prevailed at No. 3 doubles for their seventh straight victory. Carter’s singles winning streak now stands at 10 matches, and his record is now 11-2. Korb is right behind with a 10-3 singles mark.

To keep his streak alive, Carter had to fight off a tough opponent from Carroll on Saturday, winning 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 10-5. The only other close match vs. the Pioneers came at No. 2 doubles, where Kamenjarin and senior Brian Jordan (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) edged their opponents 9-7.

On the lopsided end, Kunkle did not drop a game while winning at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles, and that dominance in a conference match earned him the MWC’s Performer of the Week honor.

Monmouth’s upcoming schedule is very much in limbo due to poor weather conditions that are expected throughout the rest of the week. Today’s match against Augustana has been cancelled, and key MWC matches vs. Lake Forest and Illinois College this Saturday almost certainly won’t be played at the MC Tennis Stadium and may or may not be contested indoors in the Huff Athletic Center.

SCOTS SOLID, IF NOT SPECTACULAR, AT LORAS

The Fighting Scots results at the rain-shortened Duhawk Spring Invitational in Peosta, Iowa, were, simply put, par for the course.

The book on this year’s Scots is that they may lack the star power to challenge for individual medalist honors in most of their meets. However, their team depth will balance that out and allow them to be competitive as a team.

That was certainly the case Monday, as no Monmouth golfer placed in the top 20 in the 110-golfer field. But the Scots bunched their four counting scores within four strokes of each other and came away with an eighth-place finish out of 22 teams, half of which were Division III schools from the state of Iowa.

Monmouth’s 18-hole score of 310 was a stroke behind seventh-place Wartburg. The top six teams shot 302 or better, led by Central’s 297. Only one other MWC school, Knox, was at the event, which was shortened to 18 holes after Sunday’s first round was cancelled at the halfway point. The Scots beat the Prairie Fire by three strokes.

"We left at least five shots out on the course," said MC coach Dave Ragone, whose team missed its goal of a finish in the top third by a single stroke. "The course was very Gibson-esque. It was a shotmaker’s course, and there were some pretty cool holes."

Leading the way for Monmouth were seniors Doug Middendorf (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) and Justin Martin (Monmouth, Ill./Warren), who each shot 76. Sophomore Jake Kilberg (Rock Falls, Ill./Rock Falls) fired a 78 and Nick Harwick (Canton, Ill./Canton) rounded out the scoring with an 80.

"Justin’s been solid all year, and Doug is starting to find his swing," said Ragone.

After playing a "Gibson-esque" course Monday, the Scots will see the real thing Saturday, playing the second-day of a joint event with Knox at Gibson Woods. The first 18 holes will be played Friday at Galesburg’s Soangetaha Country Club.

Eight Midwest Conference schools will compete at the meet, and Ragone said all 20 of his players will see action, split into four five-man teams. Monmouth will then compete in an 18-hole event Monday, hosted by the University of Illinois-Springfield.

TANNEY LOOKS SHARP IN RELIEF ROLE

Is there a quarterback controversy in Birmingham? It may be too early for that, but former Fighting Scots standout Mitch Tanney certainly gave Alabama Steeldogs coach Ron Selesky something to consider with his performance in the team’s arena football season opener on Saturday

Tanney, who recently learned he had made the Steeldogs’ 22-man roster, came on in the fourth quarter of Alabama’s 44-27 loss to the Tennessee Valley Vipers and threw two touchdown passes. He was 7-of-10 for 79 yards after Steeldog starter Robert Kent was 14-of-34 for 95 yards and two interceptions through the first three quarters.

The Steeldogs are idle next weekend, and Selesky said, "We are going to treat the next two weeks as if we were just starting training camp. We have a lot of work to do before (our next game)."