ON THE VERGE

Without playing a game in over a week, the Scots softball team is on the verge of returning to the Midwest Conference tournament for the first time since 2004.

The Scots, on a six-game win streak against conference opponents, sits in third place behind Lake Forest and Grinnell. Wait a minute, only two teams from each division go to the conference tournament and the Scots are in THIRD. Not to sound like Martha Stewart, but how is that a good thing?

The men’s golf team shot their best 36-hole score since the start of the season and rolled to a third-place finish at the Indian Hills Invitational held at Ottumwa, Iowa, Saturday.

Coach Dave Ragone must have uncovered a secret training regimen to pull the Scots into shape just two weeks before the Midwest Conference championships, right?

"We went bowling," said Ragone. "The weather was so bad they kept pushing Friday’s tee time back. The course became so water-logged, they finally decided to cancel Friday’s play and had us come back for 36 holes on Saturday, so we took the guys bowling. Fortunately, they didn’t get confused about which sport required a low score and which required a high score."

Thirty-six holes in one day is nothing new to the Scots who faced that situation for the second time in less than a week. "We’re well-conditioned," said Ragone whose squad carded a 305-313-618, their best score since a 304-309-613 at the two-day Millikin Invitational in mid-March.

Freshman Jason Pinns led the team for the fourth time this season, firing a 70-76-146 to finish in a tie for third. Senior Aaron Thiel and sophomore Ryan Tapscott shot identical 78-76-154s to tie for 13th.

"Those three guys really played well last weekend," praised Ragone. "I’ll be really excited to see what Jason can do when he actually gets to take a break between rounds. Aaron did a nice job to come back from a two-stroke penalty and still shot a 78."

Tapscott had a rarity during his round, chipping in on the same hole, once for a birdie and the other to save par. "Ryan did a fantastic job salvaging par," reported Ragone. "He was all over the course on that hole, but was mentally tough and that made the difference. Anybody else probably would have double-bogeyed the hole."

Rodney Clayton carded a 79-86-165 and tied for 32nd with teammate Ryan Harvey, who toured the course with an 80-85-165.

"We played better, but we still didn’t put four good scores together," reported Ragone. "In order to really be in position to win the conference title, we need better scoring from our four, five and six positions."

Monmouth placed well ahead of conference school’s Knox and Grinnell at the meet. The Scots finished 28 strokes ahead of the Prairie Fire and 40 strokes in front of the Pioneers. "Right now, we’re just worried about Monmouth," claimed Ragone. "We know what we need to shoot. If we hit our goal of 305 to 310, then whatever happens, happens."

Monmouth and Knox will host the Scot-Fire Classic this Friday and Saturday for the Scots’ final tournament prior to next weekend’s Midwest Conference tournament. Friday’s opening round of the Scot-Fire Classic will be held at Gibson Woods Golf Course in Monmouth. The final round on Saturday will be held at Soangetaha Country Club in Galesburg.

"Our performance this weekend will go a long way in determining who we’ll take to the conference meet," said Ragone. "We still need to find the depth at four, five and six. If we can do that, we’ll be very, very good at conference."

Based on last weekend’s improvised training session, a few more frames at the local bowling alley might just propel the Scots to their first back-to-back conference titles in over 20 years.

PLANTING THE SEEDS

Chad Braun’s men’s tennis team is on a mission.

Despite a 5-0 mark against the Midwest Conference North Division teams, the Scots’ 2-2 division record means they will not be among the four teams playing in the team portion of the MWC Championships which begins Friday. "We feel like our record indicates we’re the third-best team in the conference," said Braun. "This weekend we want to go out and prove it."

In the Scots’ final tune-up last weekend, the top-ranked South Division Grinnell Pioneers handled Monmouth 8-1. The Scots, playing without the injured Ben Morrow, immediately lost two points when they could not fill the No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles matches, so let’s call it Grinnell wins 6-1. Kyle Korb and Kevin Kamenjarin came close at No. 1 singles, falling 8-6. "They played Grinnell tough," praised Braun. "We knew Grinnell was going to be tough, but without Ben in the lineup, it made it a little bit harder."

Eric Brandhort picked up the lone Monmouth win at No. 4 singles, winning 6-3, 6-4. "Eric played probably the best tennis he has all year," reported Braun. "He was outstanding, playing very consistent in that match."

Next up for the Scots, the season-ending Midwest Conference Championships in Madison, Wis. Although the Scots are out of the running for the team title, Braun is optimistic about his team’s chances given their success vs. conference teams this season. "I think all our guys, especially two through five singles should get good seeds," he said. "All three of our doubles teams could get decent seeds. It could be a pretty good weekend for us."

Brandhorst, at No. 4 singles was tabbed by Braun as a player who could get a one or two seed, given his late season success. The junior is 12-3 on the year and 8-2 over his last 10 matches including his current 6-0 streak. "I think he could go on a run, but it will depend on how the seeds shake out," said Braun.

Those seeds will be determined Friday night after the team competition concludes.

"Kyle and Kevin have been playing well at No. 1 doubles for us," said Braun. "They should get a good seed for doubles. Individually, there is an outside chance Kyle could get a seed, but there are no easy matches at No. 1. I would guess Kevin should get at least a three seed."

Morrow and Brandhorst are 7-2 at No. 2 doubles. "Ben and Eric could get a pretty high seed and make a run at a title," predicted Braun. "Ben could get a three seed at No. 5 singles. If he is recovered from the ankle injury, I think he could make a run."

Sam Graf and Tony Castro boast an 8-2 mark at No. 3 singles over the last 10 matches. "They have a shot at getting a doubles seed," said Braun. "Playing together as high school teammates has really helped their transition to college tennis. Sam could get a good seed at No. 3 singles and Tony’s playing better right now. He gives you everything he’s got every time out."

The Scot’s elimination from the team competition hasn’t diminished their focus. "Our goal this weekend is to go out and prove we’re the number three team in the conference," he said. "To do that, we’ll just have to score more points than seven other teams."

SCOTS ‘DISTANCE’ THEMSELVES FROM THE FIELD

The men’s distance runners and women’s throwers propelled the Fighting Scots men to a first-place and the women to a second-place finish at last Saturday’s Benedictine Invitational held in Lisle, Ill.

Senior distance man Aaron Etienne set the tone for the Scots, running career-best times and winning the 1,500- and 5,000-meter races. His career-best 4:00.84 in the 1,500- leads the Midwest Conference by nine seconds. The senior broke the tape in the 5,000- with a lifetime mark of 15:19.05 which ranks him third in the MWC.

"Aaron did a great job of preparing himself for the race," said coach Roger Haynes of his senior who was awarded the MWC Performer of the Week honor. "He’s done a tremendous job of mental preparation and is able to handle a lot of different race scenarios now. He’s really matured as a racer which is what you hope for as the athletes gain some age and experience. I’m sure he’ll be good the rest of the season."

Not to be outdone, freshman Mary Kate Beyer set a school record while finishing second in the women’s steeplechase. Her time of 11:43.13 was less than .10 behind the winner and bested the school record by more than 10 seconds. She has the top time in the conference by more than 15 seconds.

"Mary Kate is a very talented runner," praised Haynes. "The 3,000-meters is a very good distance for her. She is strong enough to handle the water jump and the barriers in the steeplechase. She did a nice job of not going out too fast and ran a good race."

Clay Staley followed Etienne to the awards stand, running a 4:02.74 to place third in the 1,500- and his 15:32.34 in the 5,000- was also good for third-place. Seth Leitner’s 9:54.11 placed him second in the steeplechase with the MWC’s best time. Jacob Stott followed last week’s stellar performance with a third in the 400-meters, running a 49.51. Adam Rodriguez placed fourth in the 800- with a time of 1:58.76. Brad Gross’ 57.48 was good for a fifth-place finish in the 400- hurdles.

Brad Begyn and Scott Sheller gained points in the 10,000-meters. Begyn clocked a personal-best 32:46.90 to place third and Sheller finished fifth in 33:31.11. They have the conference’s top two times in the 10,000-. Women’s runner Sara Ditzler placed seventh in the 10,000- finishing in 45:20.90.

"I was really pleased with all our distance people," said Haynes. "They all came to the meet prepared and did a really nice job. I’m probably more pleased with them more than any other group on our team at this point of the season. Brad and Scott ran extremely well. Craig Maher (36:08.54), Alan Rosiguez (37:08.97) and Drew Peterson (37:14.19) ran solid races for young runners at such a long distance. It takes a good mental approach as well as fitness."

The Scots picked up two top eight finishes in the men’s 4x400 relay. Stott, Gross, Rodriguez and Saidu Sesay finished second with a time of 3:26.60. The foursome of Leitner, Patrick Mundschenk, Damon Bautista and Tim Bentz ran a 3:37.56 to finish eighth. The 4x100 team of Gross, Stott, Sesay and Kyle Prout ran to a second-place finish in 43.26. Their time ranks the team second in the conference.

"Stott, Prout and Sesay all made pretty solid improvements," reported Haynes. "We kept Luke Reschke and Aaron Daverin out to let them recover from the flu last week. That changed our relays a little bit, but Jake has been a leader and Kyle and Saidu stepped in and filled in with nice efforts in the relays."

In the field events, Zach Wilson’s 163’8 hammer throw placed him second. He was third in the shot put at 49’2-1/4. Sam Cokinos placed seventh in the event with a mark of 46’9-1/2 which places him second in the league. Chuck Leif’s triple jump of 42’5-1/2 placed him fourth and Michael Blodgett was sixth with a mark of 41’6-1/2. Gross took sixth in the long jump at 19’10-3/4 and Peyton Lumzy took fifth in the discus with a throw of 139’2.

The Scots placed three in the top eight in the javelin. Sean Wells threw the javelin 152’1 to place fifth, Dan Higgins placed sixth at 150’1 and Emmanuel Minter’s throw of 149’9 placed him eighth. Tyler Hannam cleared 6’1-1/2 in the high jump to place third and Wells was seventh at 5’11-1/4.

Jonny Henkins cleared the provisional mark and took the top spot in the pole vault with a height of 16’0. Freshman Brock McAnally had his highest finish in the vault, clearing 14’6 to finish second. "Brock is doing a nice job getting himself ready for the weekend meets," said Haynes. "It’s different than high school, but he’s showing a good level of consistency."

The Scots’ women scored well in the throwing events. Tanesha Hughes and Jenny Babos each threw provisional-qualifying marks in the discus. Hughes won the event with a throw of 147’2, Babos was third, throwing 142’0 and Allison Renfroe logged a personal-best mark of 134’5. Monmouth placed three in the top six of the shot put. Hughes’ mark of 41’7-3/4 placed her second, Babos was third at 41’7 and Lehr was sixth, putting the shot 40’2-1/4.

Shannon Turczyn logged a provisional time of 14.99 while winning the 100-meter hurdles. Katey Vaccarello ran a conference-best 1:08.24 to take second in the 400- hurdles and Whitney Didier was sixth in 1:13.46. Turczyn and Jae Moore picked up points in the sprints. Turczyn ran to a third in the 100-meters in 12.81 and clocked a 26.57 to take fifth in the 200-. Jae Moore placed seventh in the 100- with a time of 12.95 and eighth in the 200- at 26.93. Morgan Leffel’s 1:02.23 was good for a seventh-place in the 400-.

Vaccarello, Turczyn, Leffel and Moore teamed to run a conference-best 50.10 in the 4x100 relay to place fifth. Vaccarello and Didier were joined by Katie Staab and Amy Aghababain to place seventh in the 4x400 in 4:22.87.

Megan Clennon threw a personal-best 120’10 to place second in the javelin and improved her conference-leading mark. Cassie Jenson was fifth at 103’4. Clennon and Sarah Stinson tied for fifth in the high jump with each clearing 5’1. Jessica White placed third in the pole vault at 11’0 and Didier tied for fifth, clearing 10’4.

Pole vaulters Peter Sprecher and Jonny Henkins are slated to compete at the Drake Relays this weekend and Haynes reports the men’s 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams may compete there as well.

The Scots have two weekend meets remaining before the MWC Championships May 9-10 at Knox College in Galesburg.

CALLING DR. FREUD

Scots’ baseball coach Roger Sander may want to put a psychologist on his staff.

"The only thing wrong with our team is its all mental right now," said Sander after his team’s 3-2, 5-4 double-header loss to Knox Sunday. "We came out flat. I don’t know how you couldn’t be motivated to play in those games. I’m not a psychologist."

The loss knocked the Scots out of first place in the Midwest Conference’s South Division and moved Illinois College back into the lead. While Monmouth is no longer in first, they do command second-place which would still qualify them for the playoffs. With two conference double-headers remaining, it’s not panic time, but the margin of error is getting smaller if the Scots hope to earn their eighth straight divisional crown. Monmouth hosts Knox this Saturday and plays at Grinnell May 3. Sander hopes his team is fired up for the Knox rematch.

"I told our guys, ‘Everybody gets up for you,’" reported Sander. "We have to be ready to go every game. We’ve won seven straight South Division titles, so we’ve got a big target on our backs. Right now we’re just not approaching the games with the right mindset. They (Knox) were ready to play, we weren’t. It’s not for a lack of work, our guys are busting their tails. It’s simply the mental approach to the game."

Pitching had been an area of concern for Sander, but that hasn’t been the case over the last week and going into last night’s game at Augustana. During that period, which included a 4-3 loss to Robert Morris-Springfield and the double-header sweep by the Prairie Fire, the Scots pitching staff has a respectable 3.00 ERA. Matt Tye and Chris Albanese each sported ERAs of 0.00 over that time span.

"Sunday the pitching and defense were fine," praised Sander. "We just didn’t hit the ball. We’ve got a freshman pitcher, Mike Reed, who has really stepped up for us. Brian Chandler came in for us from the bullpen, pitched well, but got stuck with a loss in the second game."

A trio of Scots have been on a streak at the plate. During the stretch when Monmouth’s pitchers have posted some microscopic ERAs, Ryan Priola, Matt McIntire and Ryan Stubler have had the hot bats. Priola leads the charge with a .455 batting average during the period. McIntire and Stubler checked in with .444 and .429 averages respectively.

Monmouth was able to find a silver lining in Tuesday’s 18-2 loss to Augustana. Priola’s fifth inning, two-out, two-run double gave the senior the Scots’ career doubles record with his 40th two-bagger. He began the year just eight back of the 39 doubles hit by Michael Blaesing and Craig Foxall from 1993-96.

The Scots know Saturday they’ll be back to the games that matter in the MWC race. Sander is hoping his squad, who had runners thrown out at the plate in both Knox games, will be able to pick up a key hit this weekend – something the Prairie Fire did one week ago. "They played great," Sander said of his rivals to the east. "They got the big hit when they needed it and we didn’t. You’ve got to give them credit."

This weekend, Sander would like to give Knox something else – two losses.

SHORT SEASON

Molly McNamara’s women’s golf team is in an odd situation.

The women’s golf team plays a split season with the majority of their matches played in the fall, they play just twice in the spring season.

Competing for the first time in over five months, the squad placed fifth at last weekend’s Hickory Point Open. All things considered, their team score of 381-385-766 impressed McNamara. "We did pretty well for our first time out this spring," said McNamara. "The conditions were not ideal Friday, but they played through it and actually were in third after Friday’s round."

Despite 30 mph winds and rain, Lynsay Barnard shot the team’s best score with an 88 on Friday. Barnard wound up the tournament in a tie for 12th with an 88-96-184 and teammate Jessica Sackville shaved five strokes off her first round score to tie for 10th at 94-89-183.

"Jessica had a couple of bad holes Friday, but still shot the best 36-holes of her collegiate career," praised McNamara. "Kathleen (Wooley) likewise had a couple of tough holes, but otherwise was very consistent in her rounds of 101-99-200."

The Scots wrap up their abbreviated season at the St. Ambrose Spring Invitational Friday.

CHRISTENSEN DOES ELLIOT NESS IMITATION

Junior pitcher Sarah Christensen (Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg) did her best impression of the "Untouchables" last week and picked up her first Midwest Conference Pitcher of the Week honor in softball.

Christensen was 3-0 as a starter and came in from the bullpen to earn a save last week as the Fighting Scots went 5-0 to run their win streak to six games, the Scots’ longest streak since the 2001 season. At last Monday’s abbreviated Midwest Conference Classic in Janesville, Wis., the junior right-hander threw a complete game shutout in a 6-0 win over Lawrence. Against defending league champion and north division favorite St. Norbert, Christensen hurled five innings of two-hit ball in a 9-0 victory. Between the pair of shutouts, the junior came on in relief to get the final out in the Scots’ 7-6 win over Ripon. She then allowed just one run in Monmouth’s 3-1 divisional win over Illinois College.

For the week, Christensen posted an ERA of 0.38 with 16 strikeouts and four walks.

ARRRRRRRRRRR, PALKOVIC ABOARD PIRATE SHIP

Fans of Fighting Scots baseball may have noticed outfielder Nate Palkovic’s absence from the lineup, or from any statistical lines for that matter.

Judging from the headline, you may think Palkovic has been filming a PBS documentary in the Caribbean. Not exactly.

Palkovic, who was a four-year starter as a kicker/punter for Steve Bell’s football team, has been playing arena football with the Peoria Pirates. Palkovic was contacted by the Pirates, who play in the af2 league, prior to the baseball season, meaning he had to decide whether to forgo baseball his senior year or play professional football.

Palkovic’s solution was to say "Yes" to Pirates football and skip his senior season on the diamond. Don’t worry, he’s not throwing away his degree with one semester left. While looking at the big picture, Palkovic has developed a busy schedule that includes working on completing his degree by attending classes during the day and then practicing afterwards.

The transition to arena football is much more dramatic for kickers, even one as accomplished as Palkovic. "The biggest challenge was adjusting to the smaller uprights and learning to kickoff in a completely different way," he said. "The posts are about half the width of the college goal posts and that’s really tough mentally. It looks like you have to kick through the eye of a needle."

"It’s been an adjustment on kickoffs, too," he continued. "Outdoors you want to kick it high with a lot of hang time, and you have a lot of room for the approach. Here, they want you to kick a line drive into the net and there’s only about eight feet for the approach. That’s completely different from what I was doing for the past four years at Monmouth."

Besides the mechanics of kicking, Palkovic says there is one other difference from the college game. "Arena football is really fast," he said. "It’s not unusual to see both teams score back-to-back for the entire game. It’s really exciting."

With the addition of Palkovic, the Pirates have two Monmouth College alums (we’re counting on Nate to get his degree this summer) on their roster. Don Tanney ’79 serves as the team’s quarterback coach.

A RUTHIAN CLOUT

When Scots’ first baseman Maggie Dort launched a home run against Illinois College last week, it sparked a debate over who hit the most impressive home run for the softball Scots in the 34 year history of the program.

Dort’s dinger, her third this season, soared well above the scoreboard in center field and came straight down on a storage trailer sitting behind the scoreboard. That’s easily 220 feet from home plate. It was the height of the home run, not the distance that started the search for the most impressive moon shots.

Maybe we should hire mathematics professor Lyle Welch to do the math and determine how high the shot would have to be in order to land on top of the trailer.

While there are others, the search has to begin with the two women who have hit more home runs than any other player in Scots’ history, Karen Friedrich and Jen Witmer. The pair each hit 17 round trippers in their careers and both could argue it could have been more.

Friedrich, who played for the Scots from 1981-84, is a member of the M Club Hall of Fame. In a game where she hit two balls out, the opposing coach argued the fence was too close. The argument proved successful and her next over-the-fence shot was ruled a double.

Witmer, a power-hitting outfielder from 1999-2002, has the distinction of losing a home run, but hitting for the cycle in a conference game during the 2001 season. The cycle occurred when she launched a deep fly that bounced off the top of the outfield fence and was ruled a double. The temporary fence was being blown backwards in strong winds and the umpires ruled any ball touching the fence would be a double. By the way, the Scots lost that game to St. Norbert 5-4.

In order to get a bird’s-eye view, we talked to the coaches of the three players.

"Maggie’s ball would have gone a lot farther if the wind hadn’t knocked it down," said John Goddard. "It a home run hit as high as I’ve ever seen." He should know, he played summer baseball "back in the day" with a guy that reportedly hit a softball over the Lewis and Clark Bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Alton, Ill.

Friedrich’s coach, Kathy Wagoner, recalls a shot her slugger hit when the Scots’ diamond was situated between the football field, the baseball field and the Haldeman-Thiessen science building. "Karen hit one to center that was about 25 feet up the side of HT," she said. "Without comparing Karen’s and Maggie’s home runs side-by-side it would be hard to say, but I’m pretty sure Karen’s would have cleared the scoreboard on today’s field. It sure seemed impressive being so high up the side of the building."

Mike Olson coached Witmer during her home run breakout year of 2001 when she tied Friedrich’s season record of eight round trippers. Olson submits a monster shot Witmer drilled in the final game of the regular season at Grinnell. Unfortunately, rain washed out that game and the stats that go with it, but we’re taking literary liberty and counting that one anyway – just for argument’s sake. Olson reports Witmer’s shot was high and deep, clearing the Pioneer fence by a good 40 feet, making it at least a 240 foot shot. You could say she Wit-murdered it.

"She hit a lot of line drive home runs," said Olson. "That one against Grinnell was the longest one I’ve ever witnessed. She was probably the best all-around hitter we’ve had. She hit for power, but was also willing to play small ball and move the runners over if that’s what we asked."

Sports Information Director Dan Nolan submits an official home run for Witmer who made jersey No. 5 a power hitter’s number two years before the St. Louis Cardinal’s Albert Pujols donned the number. "Jen had squared to fake bunt, then brought the bat back and got about a half swing on the ball," he said. "Nobody was expecting the ball to go out, but as I recall it sailed over the right center field fence. That’s some kind of power."

Friedrich holds the edge on Witmer in frequency of round trippers, hitting one out every 18 at-bats to Witmer’s 22 at-bat ratio.

Women’s Golf – at St. Ambrose Invitational, TBA