The Monmouth College Fighting Scots baseball team will play a home game for the first time in 664 days when they host Simpson College for a Noon double header on Saturday. The Scots lost both games of a double header last Saturday against Central College in Missouri while Simpson enters with a 3-1 record.  

Coach Alan Betourne's squad last played a game at home on May 19, 2019 in the Midwest Conference Tournament at Glasgow Field. All of the games in the 2020 season were played in Florida as the Scots went 6-4.   
 
Matchup History
 
Monmouth and Simpson have met nine times in history with the Storm leading the series 7-2. The most recent matchup came in 2018 with the Fighting Scots sweeping a double header 9-5 and 14-6. Prior to that the teams had not met since 2009. The Scots and Storm played double headers in 1962, 2008, 2009, 2018 and a solo game in 1997.
 
Players to Watch
 
In the two games against Central last weekend in Westminster, Missouri, the Scots were outscored 19-8 and hit just .221 as a team. The Scots led game two 5-1 in the eighth inning before allowing 12 runs in the top of the eighth and falling 12-5.
 
Outfielder Justin Bost (Reynolds, Illinois/Rockridge) led the team with three hits and three RBI in the two games. He also drew a walk and has a .400 on-base percentage.
 
Second baseman Matt Temaner (Warren, Illinois/Gurnee) collected two hits and scored a run while also driving in two runs. He drew two walks and boasts a .400 OBP.
 
First baseman Mike Dato (Oswego, Illinois) was 1-for-5 at the plate last weekend but reached base six times total. In 10 plate appearances he was hit by a pitch five times including four in the second game alone. With those five HBP added to his career tally, Dato became the Monmouth career-leader in HBP.
 
Catcher Shamus Murphy (Milan, Illinois/Rock Island) started game two and was the only Monmouth played to score two runs last Saturday. He added a double and RBI.
 
Outfielder Thomas Witty (Northbrook, Illinois/Glenbrook North) also had a double while Sean Davis (Barrington, Illinois) had a triple and scored a run.
 
Last weekend the Scots starting pitchers were Trevor Davis (Waterloo, Illinois/Gibault Catholic) and Addison Fletcher (Monmouth, Illinois/Monmouth-Roseville). Davis allowed five runs, three earned, on four hits over two innings. The right-hander walked three, struck out two and took the loss in game one. Fletcher struck out a career-high eight over six innings while allowing one walk and five hits. He gave up a solo homer and walked one while leaving with the lead but taking a no-decision.
 
Relievers Jeff Garrett (Aledo, Illinois/Mercer County), Nicholas Corman (Monmouth, Illinois/Monmouth-Roseville) and Tim McNally (Paw Paw, Illinois) each threw a shutout inning while Arturo Monroy (Chicago, Illinois/DePaul College Prep) had a hitless 1/3 of a frame with a strikeout.
 
On the Sidelines
 
Betourne begins his sixth season in charge at his alma mater with 91 career wins. The Fighting Scots won the 2018 and 2019 Midwest Conference titles under his leadership and Betourne was Coach of the Year in both seasons. The 2018 team set a school record with 29 wins and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002. Betourne was a freshman on that 2002 team as he began a career that ended with three All-MWC selections and a .344 career average.
 
About the Opponents
 
Located in Indianola, Iowa just south of Des Moines, Simpson College is 185 miles from Monmouth. The Storm participate in the American Rivers Conference, of which they were a founding member in 1922.  The ARC features eight Iowa schools and Nebraska Wesleyan.
 
Simpson has six ARC titles in baseball, the last coming in 2006. They also won the ARC tournament in 1994 and 2004. The Storm have played in six NCAA Tournaments in their history, none since 2004. The qualified for the 1991 Division III College World Series.
 
The Storm are coach by Nathan Rolling in his third season and their last winning campaign was a 23-18 record in 2011. Simpson started the 2021 season with two wins at Illinois College on February 27 before splitting a double header against Bethel (Minnesota) last weekend at U.S. Bank Stadium.  The Storm received 10 votes in this week's D3Baseball.com Top 25 poll.
 
Simpson College has scored 20 runs and allowed 11 in four games. Outfielder/pitcher Brady Held is a two-way star batting .462 with four RBI and going 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA so far this season.
 
Follow @MCFightingScots and @MonmouthGameday on twitter and @MonmouthCollegeAthletics on Instagram. The games will be webcast from Glasgow Field at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/monmouth/