SO MUCH FOR ‘THE FORMULA’

Two weeks ago in preparation for the Scots’ conference season-opener at Illinois College, baseball coach Roger Sander offered up this formula to regain the South Division crown – “Our goal is to win three out of four with everybody. If we split, that’s OK. If we sweep, that’s even better. If we drop two, it’s not the end of the world. On the other hand, we don’t want to start the conference season 0-2.”

After the first weekend of the Midwest Conference season, Sander finds his team in the “Sweep” category. The Scots pulled out a 7-4, 1-0 sweep of South Division co-favorite Illinois College (Grinnell was the other co-favorite) on the Blueboys own field to take an early 2-0 lead in the league standings.

“It was a good weekend for us,” understated Sander. “We talked before the game about the fact that we didn’t have to be at our best at this point of the season. We just needed to start winning. You can win games without being your best.”

Nearly two weeks since their last game, the Scots looked pretty good in the opener and not too shabby in the nightcap, either…and what a nightcap.

Sophomore pitcher Robbie Hinkle worked the full nine innings to get his second win, but for a time, it looked like he may not make it through the first two frames. Seven Blueboys reached base in the first two innings getting three of their five hits off Hinkle, but Hinkle turned Houdini and escaped without any damage. After that, he set down the next nine batters.

“He got called for a balk in the second inning,” reported Sander. “I think that got in his head a little bit, but he settled down and worked through it.”

Despite Caleb Ruyle’s three hit game, the Scots could only muster one run, but that’s all Hinkle would need. Tom Shaver’s RBI single to center in the second inning scored Brad Winkler with the game’s only run after the freshman catcher doubled and took third on Chaz Baggio’s base hit.

Working into the bottom of the ninth with a 1-0 lead, IC’s leadoff hitter reached second on an error and moved to third with a sacrifice bunt. Hinkle then recorded his fourth strikeout and induced a ground out to end the game.

“I didn’t expect him, or any of our guys to go the full nine,” said Sander. “He didn’t have a really high pitch count. He’s basically had four years off. He really hasn’t pitched much since his sophomore year in high school. We wanted to bring him back slowly and gear him as a starter as a sophomore. We did that and he’s well rested and eager to go.”

Game 1 wasn’t quite as dramatic, but Sander still couldn’t breathe easy despite Matt Bourne’s solid pitching into the eighth. Bourne struck out six and scattered 12 hits, but allowed just four runs before Brian Chandler came on to record the save.

Terry Davis’ two run homer got the Scots on the board in the third. Winkler drove in the frame’s third run when Kevin Sashko scored on an error off the bat of Winkler. The Scots added solo runs in the fourth and fifth, but got two crucial unearned runs in the seventh when Jake Virgo’s shot to center was mishandled, giving  Monmouth a 7-3 lead, paving the way for Bourne’s team-high third win to go with a team-best 3.34 ERA.

“We got a solid game out of Matt,” praised Sander. “Brian came in and shut the door.”

Yesterday, the Scots left the door open when they met North Division foe Lawrence at Rockford, Ill., in a non-conference affair. Two runs in the seventh did in the Scots in a 4-2 loss. Sander stuck with his game plan to use his extensive bullpen and got three scoreless innings out of starter Corey Gruber.

After Sashko drove in Davis with the game’s first run in the third inning, Winkler plated Sashko with a hit up the middle. Lawrence answered with solo runs in the fourth and fifth, then took the lead for good with a pair of scores in the seventh on two hits – one of which was an RBI triple – and a throwing error.

The game gave Sander a chance to look at four pitchers – Gruber, Chandler, Matt Tye and Zach Myers. Myers set the Vikings down in order in the eighth.

“Right now, Bourne and Hinkle are our 1 and 2 guys,” said Sander of his pitching staff that has plenty of quality arms. “We’ve got a bunch of guys who want to be 1 or 2 when they get their chance. Chandler would like to be one of those guys, but he’s so versatile we can use him as a closer, any length of relief or as a starter. He’d like to start, but he’s accepted his role out of the bullpen right now and we’ve got more options because of that. We’ve got a bunch of games coming up where some of the guys knocking on the door may get a chance.”

The Scots host IC Saturday and then travel to the Milwaukee School of Engineering for a double-header Monday. That means the Scots will have played five games in the span of six days – giving pitchers and position players plenty of opportunities to shine.

“We don’t have one star,” said Sander. “We’ve got a nice mix of freshmen and upperclassmen. Our kids are starting to hit a little better, our pitching is coming around and our fielding is improving. We just need to field a little better, get some good pitching and timely hitting. That’s all baseball really boils down to.”

Hmmm, Sander’s formula for success sounds pretty simple. Now, if only the formulas in calculus were that easy.

BACK IN ACTION…FINALLY

Nearly a month off between the indoor and outdoor seasons had no ill effect on the women’s and men’s track teams which placed second and seventh, respectively at last weekend’s 21-team Washington University Invitational in St. Louis, Mo.

Competing outdoors for the first time this season, the Fighting Scots provisionally qualified two women’s throwers and one men’s hurdler.

“We did well after the long layoff,” said Roger Haynes. “It was a nice surprise in some regards. We were pretty consistent across the board. We talk about having performances early in the 6-7-8 range on a scale of 10 and I think nearly everybody was there.”

Tanesha Hughes certainly was there, leading the charge with a pair of firsts and provisionally qualifying in two events while breaking a school record. The senior won the shot put with a school-record and provisional mark of 44’5-1/2” to rank third in the national standings. Gloria Lehr placed second with a put of 42’5-1/4” – also a provisional distance which puts her ninth among the national qualifiers. Amanda Streeter added to the Scots’ point total in the shot, placing sixth.

“Tanesha and Gloria both had very solid outings,” praised Haynes. “The entire group of women throwers had a quality weekend. It was nothing that you’d call spectacular, but Coach (Brian) Woodard did an excellent job of getting the throwers ready.”

Hughes picked up another first in the discus winning by nearly 13 feet with a provisional mark of 143’5”. Allison Renfroe placed eighth.

Lehr threw a pair of personal-bests, placing fourth in the hammer throw with a career mark of 137’6”. She also reached a personal-best 119’7” to finish second in the javelin where Brittany McCline, a newcomer to the event, was third at 114’0”, Streeter was fifth and Heather Hull placed eight. Streeter also placed sixth in the hammer throw, just ahead of Hughes.

Megan McKenna scored plenty of points for the Scots in the other field events. The senior cleared 10’10” to place fourth in the pole vault and finished fifth in the triple jump, just ahead of Jae Moore. McKenna was also eighth in the long jump. Hull and Sarah Stinson finished 6-7 in the high jump.  

On the track, hurdler Shannon Turczyn broke the tape in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.33 which would have been a provisional qualifying time if not for just a bit too much wind. Times run in that event with more than four meters of wind per second are not credited for NCAA qualifying. The wind for Turczyn’s race was 4.5. She also took fifth in the 400- hurdles.

Mary Kate Beyer’s 5,000-meter time will stand. The sophomore clocked a school record 17:58.90 to finish second.

“That was one of her goals going into the season,” said Haynes of Beyer’s record. “It was a quality race for her. She ran very consistently and finished very well, probably the best finish I’ve seen her have.”

McKenna, Turczyn, Moore and Brittany Lowdermilk ran to a third-place finish in the 4x100 with a time of 50.13. Katie Staab took seventh in the 1,500-. Seventh place finishes were earned by Lindsie Pettie in the 400- and Moore in the 100-. Moore also placed eighth in the 200-meters.

On the men’s side, Logan Hohl punched his provisional ticket to the national outdoor meet. The sophomore placed third in the 400- hurdles with a provisional qualifying time of 53.71, just .10 off the lead.

“That was a very good start to the season for Logan,” reported Haynes of Hohl’s provisional performance – currently third nationally. “We think he has that kind of ability and last weekend moved him into the nation rankings.”

Andre Taylor, Aaron Daverin, Kyle Prout and Saidu Sesay teamed for a fourth-place finish in the 4x100 relay. Geoff Bird ran a personal-best in the 10,000-meters, turning in a sixth-place time of 32:50.17.Sesay added to the point total by taking eighth in the 100-meters.

“Geoff and Jon (Welty) were both good for us in the distance events Friday,” said Haynes of his 10K and 5K runners. Welty shaved nearly a minute off his indoor time in the 5K, clocking a 15:55.37 outdoors to place 24^th. 

Dan Higgins’ second place in the javelin was the Scots’ highest finish in the men’s field events. His throw of 187’6” was less than 20 feet off the lead. Sean Wells placed fourth.

Tyler Hannam’s high jump of 6’2-1/4” tied him for third. Wells tied for sixth and Matt Hassler was eighth. Peyton Lumzy scored in three events, placing fourth in the shot put, fifth in the discus and eighth in the hammer throw with a personal-best 144’6”. Nick Wright took seventh in the triple jump.

“Dan and Sean were very good in the javelin,” said Haynes “Nick was solid in his events and Peyton had a very good weekend in the shot and discus. Our conversation as a team on the way home centered around what we need to do in the next few weeks to see improvements.”

The Scots will host Knox, Millikin and Illinois Wesleyan in a quad meet this weekend at April Zorn Memorial Stadium which is being billed as a competitive workout. The hammer throw begins at 10:30 at Peacock Memorial Park. The rest of the field events begin at noon at the stadium. Running events are slated for a 12:30 start.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Maybe John Goddard’s softball team should make it a habit of arriving “fashionably late.”

In the conference opener at Lake Forest last Saturday, the Scots beat the Foresters 9-2 in Game 1 for only the team’s second win against LFC since 2004, but they fell in the nightcap 10-6 and Goddard learned a valuable lesson about navigation systems– if you don’t enter the address correctly, you WILL get lost. That’s exactly what happened, causing the Scots to arrive nearly an hour late for the 1:00 p.m. start.

The Scots had their foot on the gas to get to the game and didn’t let up until the final out was recorded in the opening game win.

“I’ve seen teams get comfortably ahead of Lake Forest and wind up losing,” said Goddard of his strategy to pour on as many runs as possible. “Playing Lake Forest, there are never enough runs. We took control from the first inning and never let them get into the game. We ran a lot and had some people thrown out, but we wanted to keep the pressure on. That wasn’t our plan going in, but it developed into that.”

The Scots certainly kept the pressure on, scoring two runs in the first and getting a solo homer in the second from No. 9 hitter, Maggie Dort.

“We moved Maggie down in the order to allow her to see a few more pitches and it paid off,” explained Goddard of Dort’s first round tripper of the season.

Brittany Forney led the hit parade with a 4-for-4 performance in the opener. Dort and Lauren Bergstresser scored three runs each in Monmouth’s third-highest offensive output of the season.

Add to the offense, the performance of senior hurler Sarah Christensen, who struck out eight, and the Scots eased to the top of the league standings – for one game. The Game 1 win gives the Scots the tie-breaker advantage over the division favorite Foresters.

It looked for a while like the Scots would complete the sweep, jumping out to a 4-2 lead through the first three innings of Game 2. A sweep would have been sweet, but the Foresters came roaring back and took the lead with a three-run fourth. They added five more in the fifth, capped by a two-out grand slam to make it 10-4, which was anything by OK with the Scots.

In the sixth, after Colleen Zumpf, pinch hitters Forney and Maggie Scudella drew back-to-back-to-back walks, Lake Forest induced a popup on the infield for the inning’s first out. The inning’s third pinch hitter, Haley Lyons, then stepped to the plate and delivered a base hit up the middle to score Zumpf and the Scots looked like they had their rally caps on. That is until the Foresters caught a break.

“We came back, but it was a hard-earned six runs,” reported Goddard. “We had an opportunity in the sixth to do some damage, but Lake Forest got a good break on a passed ball that came straight back off the backstop and we were out at the plate for the third out. Haley did a great job hitting off the bench. The grand slam was the difference.”

What a difference one game makes.

Last night the Scots pounded Robert Morris-Springfield 10-2 in Game 1 of a twinbill in Springfield, Ill. The nightcap was nothing like five-inning mercy-rule opener. The Eagles stifled the Monmouth bats in handing Monmouth a 5-2 loss – the fourth time in five double-headers this season the Scots have dropped Game 2 after a Game 1 win.

As the conference drive begins, Goddard feels he has solidified his lineup for both ends of the league double-headers, but with an extremely deep bench, he’ll have plenty of weapons for the remainder of the conference season. Now if he could just learn how to program his navigation system.

A WEEKEND TO FORGET

Ever the optimist, men’s golf coach Dave Ragone found a silver lining in his team’s rough outing at last weekend’s Illinois Wesleyan Invitational.

“We’re looking at this as a wakeup call,” said Ragone of his team’s back-to-back 329s and 19^th place finish. “It’s better that this happened now. We still have three weeks before the conference tournament to work on our weak areas.”

The Scots preach consistency and that’s what they got, unfortunately, the scores were consistently – and uncharacteristically – high. Ryan Tapscott’s 79-83-162 and Jake Kilberg’s 84-79-163 were the squad’s best scores, but not in the range Ragone was hoping for. Rodney Clayton toured the course with an 82-83-165 and freshman Sean McNamara – who edged out Ryan Harvey in a one hole playoff last week for the final spot – improved with an 88-84-172. Ted Starkey shot an 84 on the opening round, but was DQed on Day 2.

“The weekend was a classic example of Murphy’s Law,” said Ragone. “Whatever could go wrong, did. We’re playing some tough competition right now and we’ll play a lot of golf this weekend so we’ll be able to get our game back.”

The Scots practice plan this week may resemble basic training – back to fundamentals. That means A LOT of work on the short game as well as range work before they travel to Augustana Friday and Saturday. After taking Easter Sunday off, the squad heads to Springfield for a one-day, 36-hole tournament on Monday. That’s three days of golf and 72 holes over the span of four days.

“The guys were very disappointed in their performance last weekend,” said Ragone. “They’re anxious to get back out there and redeem themselves.”

Kilberg, in his senior season, has been Ragone’s poster child for redemption. After a dismal junior campaign, Kilberg has entered his final season energized with a mission.

“Jake has been pretty steady in his play this spring,” praised Ragone. “He’s done a nice job on the course, but more importantly, he has been an excellent leader and always remains upbeat.”

With the final push coming up and a deep and talented roster, the Scots can find strength in numbers. Good news for the Scots, bad news for the coach.

“We’ve got plenty of guys who can play,” claimed Ragone. “Now it’s up to me to find the right guys for the right course at the right time.”

A MATTER OF INCHES

The men’s tennis team knows the value of winning close matches.

Last Wednesday in a 6-3 loss to St. Ambrose, the Scots dropped three of four singles matches that went three sets. On Saturday, the Scots won all four matches that went three sets to roll by Elmhurst 9-0.

“If we don’t win those, it might be a different story,” said Chad Braun of the three set tie-breakers. “The guys competed hard and we got the team win.”

The marathon match came on the heels of an 8-1 loss to Illinois Wesleyan that morning. Making the win over Elmhurst even more impressive was the absence of No. 3 singles player Eric Brandhorst who took the weekend off to recover from an injury.

“The guys could have just said ‘we’re shorthanded, a loss doesn’t matter,’” reported Braun. “Instead, they battled and won.”

Brandhorst’s absence meant Chris Utterback teamed with Kyle Korb at No. 1 doubles. That tandem picked up the Scot’s only win against IWU.

“Chris and Kyle had a good day at doubles,” said Braun. “Chris has done a good job of hanging in there. He’s gone through the typical freshman struggles, but he’s stayed with it and is really playing well.”

Also playing well in singles against Elmhurst – in three set matches – were Korb, a 3-6, 6-4, 10-6 winner at No. 1; Tyler Lampe, a 4-6, 6-2, 10-7 No. 4 winner; Ben Morrow at No. 5, a 6-4, 0-6, 10-3 winner; and at No. 6, Brian Miller who won 2-6, 6-4, 10-8.

It was just as close in doubles where Sam Graf and Lampe had to battle back from a 5-1 deficit at No. 2. The tandem ran off seven straight points to eventually win 8-5.

“Instead of dropping those close ones like we did Wednesday, we were able to win those Saturday,” said Braun. “If we don’t win those three-setters, it’s a 5-4 match. We did a great job coming back and winning the close ones.”

In the day’s opening match against IWU, Korb and Graf each fell in three set tie-breakers – Korb falling 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 and Graf succumbing 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.

“Sam and Kyle had two tough matches,” claimed Braun. “They both played very well and just came up short. With Eric out, we had to bump some guys up in the order, but it was a good experience for us.”

The Scots travel north today and Friday to Midwest Conference teams St. Norbert and Lawrence. The non-conference matches against the North Division teams will not count in the team standings, but will go toward seeding in the singles and doubles competitions.

“Playing the teams up north helps to clarify the seeds come tournament time,” said Braun. “Only our divisional matches will count in the team standings.”

The Scots begin their official conference schedule next weekend when they host Grinnell and Illinois College. 

EXPEREINCING THE BRITISH OPEN IN ILLINOIS

For many golf fans, the British Open conjures up images of golfers trying their best to manage high winds and blustery weather.

That’s the kind of conditions Molly McNamara’s women’s golf team faced last weekend in Jacksonville, Ill., at the Illinois College Spring Invitational. The weather deteriorated to the point where the event organizers cancelled Sunday’s scheduled second round – at the end of play on Saturday.

“It was very windy and cool,” reported McNamara. “We had a one hour frost delay to start. It’s a very open links type course so it’s really out in the open.”

Those are pretty rugged conditions for a team to face in their spring season opener and the score showed it – a 445. Lynsey Barnard’s 94 led the Scots. Heidi Hartshorn toured the course with a108, Kristin Humphrey carded a 115 and Kendra Catterton came in at 128.

“We struck the ball pretty well,” said McNamara. “The women struggled with the short game. We had less than a week of actual practice and without being able to actually get outside it’s hard to get the soft touch you need for the short game. That’s always the hardest part of the game because it requires so much finesse. It wasn’t for a lack of trying.”

Weather permitting, the Scots will be back in action next weekend at the Millikin Invitational held at Hickory Point.

“The team is looking forward to that meet,” said McNamara. “We always seem to play well there.”

THAT’S A WRAP

Kerry Frantz’ women’s tennis team wrapped up their spring season splitting their final two matches to finish the season at an even .500.

Sunday, the Scots fell to Augustana 7-2 then downed rival Knox 7-2 on Monday. Kimi Wegner finished her season on a roll, winning all four singles and doubles matches in the final two days. The sophomore picked up the Scots’ only singles win against Augustana, winning at No. 3, 3-6, 7-6, 10-7. She began the match by teaming with freshman Amy Unzicker for an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles to account for both of the Scots’ wins. Unzicker and Brittany Donnelly each forced three sets before falling to their Vikings opponents at Nos. 2 and 4 singles, respectively.

It was quite the turnaround Monday when the Scots dominated the Prairie Fire. Cassie Frantz, Unzicker, Wegner and Donnelly won in straight sets at Nos. 1-4 singles. Senior Maddy Ethington went three sets to end her career on a winning note at No. 5 singles with a hard fought 4-6, 6-1, 10-7 win. Rachel Bognar was edged at No. 6, 6-4, 6-3. Frantz and Donnelly at No. 1 doubles and Wegner and Unzicker at No. 2 doubles posted wins by identical 8-3 scores. Ethington and Julie Battcher were clipped at No. 3, 8-4. 

The Knox match marked the end of the line for three seniors – Donnelly, Ethington and Frantz. Over the span of their careers, the Scots posted a 25-23 record with no season below .500. The Scots’ .521 winning percentage over that period is the best four-year winning percentage in the history of the program. This year’s squad set the new standard in wins, recording a school-record eight, breaking their record of seven set last season. Monmouth’s third place conference finish last fall was the team’s highest placing since a third in 1979.

While the Scots lose three talented seniors, they have some thoroughbreds in the stable. Wegner set the school record for doubles wins in a season (17) and Unzicker claimed the singles season record for victories (18). Both are in position to challenge the career records of Donnelly (43 singles wins) and Frantz (50 doubles wins).

That means one thing. The women’s tennis record book will be maintained in pencil.

CONFERENCE HONORS    

Senior Tanesha Hughes (Peoria, Ill./Woodruff) threw two provisional qualifying marks at last weekend’s Washington University Invitational and was named the Midwest Conference Field Event Performer of the Week in women’s track & field. 

Hughes made the start of the season look easy, winning two events with two provisional qualifying marks and one school record in her season-opening meet. Competing at the 21-team invitational Saturday, Hughes heaved the shot put a provisional-qualifying and school-record 44’5-1/2” to win the event by two feet. The mark bested the previous Monmouth record by more than half a foot. She also threw a provisional mark to win the discus where her throw of 143’5” was nearly 13 feet farther than the runnerup. Hughes also placed seventh in the hammer throw. Her mark in the discus leads the conference by a whopping 23 feet.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Thurs., Apr. 9
Men’s Tennis – at St. Norbert, 8:30 pm 

Fri., Apr. 10
Men’s Golf – at Augustana Invitational, 9:00 am
Men’s Tennis – at Lawrence, Noon 

Sat., Apr. 11
Men’s Golf – at Augustana Invitational, 8:30 am
Track – Fighting Scots Invitational, 10:30 am
Baseball – hosts Illinois College (2), Noon
Softball – hosts Knox (2), 1:00 pm 

Mon., Apr. 13
Men’s Golf – at Springfield College in Illinois Invitational (36 holes), 9:00 am
Baseball – at Milwaukee School of Engineering (2), Noon

 Tues., Apr. 14
Softball – hosts Millikin (2), 4:00 pm 

SCOTSIVATIONAL

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” - Zig Ziglar