LINKSTERS THIRD, BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH

The golf team continues to show signs of capturing their second straight Midwest Conference championship, but coach Dave Ragone was not exactly ecstatic about the team’s third place showing at last weekend’s Prairie Fire Classic.

"We need to be faster out of the gate," said Ragone of his team’s slow start at the meet held at Soangetaha Country Club in Galesburg. Indeed, the Scots placed third in front of conference schools Knox, Beloit and Carroll but the Scots’ No. 1 Red team was in 11th place, a stroke behind their No. 2 White team at the end of Round 1.

Monmouth’s Red team posted a 319-306-625 to stage a miraculous finish to tie for third. The White squad posted a 322 on the second day for a 640 total, placing them eighth. "I was pleased with the way our Red team rebounded on Day 2," praised Ragone. "The main thing is we did a much better job on putts and that really turned it around for us on the final 18 holes."

The Red team’s Jason Pinns and Ryan Harvey carded identical 79-74-153s to tie for ninth. Also on the White squad, Rodney Clayton posted a 79-80-159, Aaron Thiel bounced back from an opening round 82 to card a 78 in the final round for a 160 and Kyle Tuor came in at 82-80-162.

"Aaron showed some amazing mental toughness," praised Ragone. "He opened the second round with an eight on a par three and finished the round six over, so he was just one over through the last 17 holes. Clayton and Tuor really had solid rounds for us last weekend."

"We’re very deep," reported Ragone. "After the first day, all 10 of our guys were within three shots of each other. That is a great position for us to be in with 10 guys battling for a spot on our No. 1 team."

The weekend was a double-edged sword for the Scots. On the one hand, Monmouth finished ahead of the three other conference schools. On the other hand, Ragone knows first-hand a slow start on Day 1 could be disaster come conference tournament time. His first league title in 2002 came about when the second round was rained out. "Our goal is to shoot 305 to 310 every day," he said. "If we don’t, then I’m not a happy camper."

The Scots travel to the 36-hole Loras Duhawk Open Sunday and Monday with a goal of making sure their coach is all smiles at the end of the trip.

While the Scots’ sweep of conference teams Ripon and Lawrence last week had no bearing on the Midwest Conference team tournament, it did impact the singles and doubles seedings later this month. The Scots downed the Red Hawks 7-2 and bested the Vikings 8-1.

With a young team, Scots’ coach Chad Braun believes each win builds confidence, whether it’s against a conference school or not. "Four of our six guys are brand new to college tennis," he said. "Any time a young group gets a win, it builds their confidence."

Freshman Sam Graf lost just three games in sweeping his opponents at No. 3 singles. Graf and classmate Tony Castro easily dispatched their No. 3 doubles competition. It should be no surprise the two work well together. They were teammates at Mascoutah High School.

"Sam has been playing well and is on a pretty good roll," praised Braun. "He and Tony make a pretty solid doubles team. Playing together in high school helped in that they’re familiar with each other. Tony is a tremendous vollier and Sam is solid all around, so they make a really nice doubles team."

At No. 2 singles, Kevin Kamenjarin cruised to a straight set win against Ripon but had to earn a hard-fought 6-2, 4-6, 10-8 win in the Lawrence match. "Kevin was down in the tie-breaker 7-3 and came back to win it," reported Braun. "He’s been kind of a cardiac kid. He came back from down 5-2 against Quincy before spring break to win. Kevin has really shown the ability to tough out some wins. He’s really matured as a player."

Eric Brandhorst, the Scots’ No. 4 singles player, posted straight set wins. Ben Morrow swept the No. 5 singles play. Winning in straight sets vs. Lawrence and pulling out a 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 win against Ripon. Castro was swept at No. 6 singles, falling to Ripon in straight sets and losing a tough 7-5, 6-4 decision to Lawrence. "Eric and Ben are playing very well," reported Braun. "Ben made a nice adjustment against Ripon to come back and win. He was open to my suggestions and was very coachable in that match. Finally getting outside has helped Eric’s game. He’s playing extremely well right now."

Kyle Korb fell at No. 1 singles in three sets to Ripon but bounced back to win in straight sets against Lawrence. "Kyle played a good match against Ripon," said Braun. "He just got going a little late in the second set. Overall, he had a very solid day."

In the remainder of doubles play, Korb and Kamenjarin posted 8-0 and 8-2 No. 1 doubles wins against Ripon and Lawrence, respectively. At No. 2 doubles, Brandhorst and Morrow swept the Red Hawks and Vikings 8-5, 8-4.

"Kyle and Kevin played really well against Ripon," said Braun. "They were making some great lob shots. It seemed like every lob hit the line and was unreturnable."

"Last weekend was a tough weekend," said Braun of the frigid conditions at the Scots’ outdoor courts. "We talk about controlling the things you can control and not worrying about what you can’t control. The guys were mentally tough and didn’t let the temperature bother them. I think I was the only guy complaining about the weather."

If the Scots continue their play, the weather may be the only thing Coach Braun has to complain about.

PLAYING HARDBALL WITH THE BIG BOYS

Two pitches. Just two pitches and we might be talking about an upset.

The Scots baseball team came oh, so close to knocking off Division I Eastern Illinois University Tuesday night, falling 4-3. "We weren’t intimidated," said Roger Sander. "We hit the number nine hitter in the third and then two runs score. We’re leading 3-2 with two outs in the seventh and we walk the same guy and then two more runs score. That’s the ball game."

Don’t get Sander wrong, he was all smiles when talking about the game against the Panthers. "We are playing better right now," he praised. "They see the ability is there. We fielded the ball well and manufactured some runs. We used five pitchers and they all did very well."

With softball assistant coach Hank Shimmin and sports information director Dan Nolan arguing about the temperature last Friday, the Scots softball team heated up the mid-30 degree weather (Shimmin’s estimate, Nolan said 10) with some hot bats, but fell to Illinois Wesleyan 9-1, 4-2.

"Each game we had one bad inning that took us out of contention," lamented head coach John Goddard. "We just need to eliminate that one bad inning." A look at the scorebook backs up Goddard’s claim.

Sarah Christensen (Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg) battled back in Game 1 after the Scots spotted the Titans two unearned runs in the first inning. The junior held IWU hitless through the next three innings before surrendering two runs (one earned) in the fifth. Emily Willems’ (Moline, Ill./Rockridge) two out single in the top of fifth scored Kristin Bickett (Malden, Ill./Princeton) to trim the deficit to 2-1. Illinois Wesleyan’s runs in their half of the inning made it 4-1. The Titans ended the game via the mercy rule in the sixth, scoring five runs on five hits.

"Sarah pitched well against MacMurray Wednesday and she carried that into the Wesleyan game,’ said Goddard. "She’s getting better every time out. Wesleyan is a good-hitting team and they were finally able to bunch some hits together to end it. Sarah held a very good team at bay for a long, long time."

Amanda Murdock’s (Aledo, Ill./Aledo) arm and the Scots’ defense kept Game 2 close. Sophomore catcher Natalie Giannini (Richmond, Ill./Richmond-Burton) gunned down two would-be base stealers and Willems’ bat supplied the fireworks. IWU took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the second before Willems crushed a two out, two-run homer over the left-centerfield fence in the top of the third. A Titan walk and a double in the fourth tied the game at 2-2. Illinois Wesleyan again stacked together five hits in the sixth, scoring two runs for the final margin.

"Amanda is a very tough pitcher to hit when she gets ahead in the count," said Goddard. "It was important for her to pitch well after Sarah had thrown such a great game. Ashley Tocha (Kewanee, Ill./Kewanee) relived in the sixth and kept them from scoring to give us a chance in the seventh. I was very pleased with how our pitchers battled a very good-hitting team."

Willems drove in all the Scots’ runs in the twinbill and Ashley Parer (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) went 3-for-5. "Emily and Ashley both had excellent weeks," said Goddard. "Ashley didn’t have a great spring trip hitting-wise, but she’s really turned it on now that we’re back home."

The Scots began a two-date homestand hosting Rose-Hulman last night. Freshman Erin Fitzpatrick had the hot bat in the Scots 3-1, 7-6 win over the Engineers. Fitzpatrick slugged out five hits, two doubles, a home run and six RBIs in the twinbill. Christensen picked up the win in Game 1 and, in Game 2, got her second win of the night, coming on in relief in the sixth. The Scots posted solo runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings of the opener to ease to the win.

Game 2 wasn’t so easy.

The Engineers came back from down 5-2 in the third to take a 6-5 lead in the sixth. The Scots, who banged out 23 hits in the twinbill, answered in their half of the inning. With two outs, Anna Coutts scored from second on a throwing error and Fitzpatrick promptly singled home Maggie Dort to give the Scots the lead for good 7-6. R-H threatened in the seventh with one out and the bases loaded, Dort turned an unassisted double play to preserve the win, spearing a line drive at first base and doubling off the base runner.

"Our record is very deceiving," said Goddard. "We gave Wesleyan a scare last week and swept Rose-Hulman who came in with a 13-3 record. The women played good solid defense behind our pitchers who did a tremendous job. We also got some timely hitting from Erin and Maggie. We open the conference season Sunday with Lake Forest, so it’s good to have this momentum going into conference play."

The Scots’ parents are planning their annual tailgater prior to Sunday’s 1:00 p.m. double header. If they need someone to light the grills, we might just suggest they use Fitzpatrick’s hot bat.

WILLEMS IS HONORED

A stellar week has led to senior shortstop Emily Willems (Moline, Ill./Rockridge) picking up her first Midwest Conference softball Performer of the Week honor.

Willems had the kind of week players dream of, hitting .583 with a 1.000 slugging percentage. In a 10-2, 3-2 sweep of MacMurray Wednesday, the sweet-swinging Willems went 5-for-6 and scored two runs. She continued her assault on opposing pitchers Friday as the Scots fell to Illinois Wesleyan 9-1 and 4-2. Willems rapped out two more hits and drove in all of Monmouth’s runs in the twinbill. Her two-run homer in the third inning of Game 2 gave the Scots a 2-1 lead. She leads the team’s starters with a .429 batting average and has not struck out in her last 29 plate appearances.

WOMEN’S GOLF, ROUND TWO

Coach Molly McNamara was forced to hold the first two practices of the season indoors. Although everyone would prefer to be on the course, McNamara knows her team has the opportunity to work on specific skills. "We have two groups with two distinct needs at this point," she explained. "We have one group who needs to work on some fundamentals and technical improvements. Our other group needs to get out and play a few rounds to work on the mental aspect of the game."

The Scots got a pleasant surprise last fall when sophomore Lynsey Barnard (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) joined the team just prior to the Midwest Conference tournament and turned in an all-conference performance. Barnard, a point guard on the basketball team during the winter, will be joined this spring by one of her basketball teammates, Megan Baum (Wataga, Ill./ROWVA). Baum is returning to the links after concentrating solely on basketball her freshman year.

The Scots have adopted a laid back approach to the spring season. "We’re not under pressure to figure out who our top players are," said McNamara. "It’s nice that we have time to work with the women individually. Megan hasn’t played competitively in a few years, so we’ve been working quite a bit with her. She’s a good athlete and I’m sure she will come back this fall much improved."

Men’s Tennis – at Lake Forest (with Carroll), 9:00 a.m./Noon