Wabash got a sacrifice fly from sophomore Justin VanderIest (Hudsonville, MI/Hudsonville) in the eighth inning to take the first of two games from Monmouth College on Thursday, but could not come up with a timely hit in the second game to split with the Fighting Scots. The Little Giants won the opener 6-5 before losing 2-1 in the nightcap.
Junior Danny Schubert (Lebanon, IL/Lebanon) got things going in the eighth inning of the first game for Wabash with a one-out base hit to right. He moved to third on a single by sophomore Phil Ramos (Zillah, WA/Zillah), then scored the game-winner when VanderIest pinch-hit and lifted a fly ball to center field that allowed Schubert to score.
Wabash erased a 5-1 lead by the Scots after three innings by scoring three runs in the bottom half of the fourth before tying the game in the fifth. Senior Mike Mack (Butler, IN/Eastside) and junior Bill Goff (Brownsburg, IN/Brownsburg) each went 3-for-3 in the contest. Mack finished with three RBIs, including a two-run homer in the fourth. Goff scored twice after belting three doubles, including an RBI shot before Mack's two-run bomb to get the Little Giants back in the contest. Sophomore Chris Sides (Brownsburg, IN/Brownsburg) was 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored.
Sophomore Nick Rico (Phoenix, AZ/Desert Vista) picked up the win after throwing 1-2/3 innings of relief. He held the Scots hitless, walking two and striking out one in his outing.
Game two saw Wabash pitcher John Thiry (SO/Grand Rapids, MI/Grand Rapids Christian) hold Monmouth to two runs on four hits through six innings of work. He allowed no walks and struck out five. But the Little Giant bats were silenced in the contest by the Scots' Lukas Atkins. Wabash would come up with only one run on seven hits in the contest, and that run came early in the contest. Freshman Brandon Heller (Carthage, IN/Rushville) walked and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Mack in the first inning.
Schubert was 2-for-3 in the second game. Junior Nick George (Lafayette, IN/Harrison) added two hits, including a two-out double in the fifth, in his three at bats in the game.
Wabash moves to 6-6 with the split. The Little Giants will conclude their Florida trip on Saturday with a doubleheader against Macalester College.