#17 Centenary Baseball Team Puts Winning Streak on Line Friday Versus Dallas

Shreveport - The No. 17 Centenary baseball team continues its six-game homestand as the red-hot Gents welcome the University of Dallas Crusaders to Shehee Stadium for a three-game Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series beginning with a doubleheader set for Noon and 3 p.m. on Friday.

The Gents and Crusaders wrap up the series with a single game on Saturday set for 1 p.m. Live stats and live video will be available for all three games in the series at the links below:

Stats: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2020-21/boxscores/20210402_6llc.xml

Video: https://collegetvticket.com/portal/centenary

The Gents (20-2, 6-0 SCAC) moved up to No. 17 in the nation in the latest 2021 D3baseball.com/NCBWA Week 6 poll, it was announced earlier this week. Centenary won four games last week, crushing the East Texas Baptist University Tigers, 13-5, at Woods Field in Marshall, Texas last Tuesday and then swept the Schreiner Mountaineers at home over the weekend as the Gents claimed three one-run wins to remain unbeaten in SCAC play and extend their winning streak to 14 games. Dallas (5-10, 3-3 SCAC) lost two of three at home to Southwestern last weekend.

Centenary, which was ranked 19^th in the poll last week, improved to 10-0 this season at home and the Gents are now 13-1 in their last 14 home games going back to the beginning of last season. The Maroon and White are now an amazing 29-6 in their last 35 games and have not lost a game since falling 8-5 at Huntingdon back on Feb. 28.

The Gents continued their best start to a season in the division III era (2012-present) as they are one game ahead of the pace of the 2017 team that made the NCAA Tournament and was 19-3 after its first 22 games. The 2017 squad won 16 games in a row, a division III era record, and the current Gents are now just two wins away from tying that streak.

Centenary continues to top the conference's team statistical categories as the Gents are number one in team batting (.345), team pitching (3.03), and team fielding (.973). The Gents have the most runs (189) and hits (260) in the conference and the second-most home runs with 16. Their team on-base percentage is an impressive .440 and are slugging .488.

Senior 2B Tyler Erickson (Houston, Texas) has been one of the Gents' offensive leaders all season as he leads the team and ranks fourth in the league in batting average (.429) and is the hits leader (39). He has scored 18 runs, has 22 RBI, and four extra-base hits (three doubles and one triple). His on-base percentage is a stellar .485 and he is slugging .484. Erickson has a remarkable 15 multi-hit games this season including a trio of three-hit performances and a 4-hit game.

Senior DH Tyler Welch (Alexandria, La.), Senior 1B/P Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas), senior RF Cody Crowder (Shepherd, Texas), and junior SS Brady Robinson (Jacksonville, Texas) all rank in the top 16 in the SCAC in batting average, Ludwick is third in hits (32), Crowder, Ludwick, and junior CF Gary Hewitt (Cedar Park, Texas) are first, second, and fourth in runs scored, and Ludwick is the league leader in RBI (28) while junior Ben Bridges (Beckville, Texas) is tied for second with 27. Crowder ranks second in doubles (8) and is tied for first in triples with three. Crowder is also the league leader in total bases (52) and he and Hewitt are tied for third with nine stolen bases each.

Welch is batting .390 with a .479 OBP and is slugging .593. He has 23 hits, 15 runs scored, two homers, four doubles, a triple, and 11 RBI. Ludwick is hitting .376 with a .480 OBP and is slugging 541. He has three home runs (tied for team lead with Crowder) and five doubles along with 26 runs scored. The versatile senior is also Centenary's top starting pitcher through 22 games as he leads the team in wins (5) and ERA (2.12). He is 5-0 with one complete game and in 34.0 innings pitched he has allowed just 21 hits and 10 runs, eight earned, with 14 walks and 36 strikeouts. Ludwick's ERA is second-best in the SCAC and he leads the league in wins.\

Crowder is having another superb season as he is hitting .372 with a team-best .538 OBP and .667 slugging percentage. He has 29 hits, 31 runs scored, 20 RBI, and a team-leading 14 extra-base hits. Robinson is hitting .370 (.407 OBP/.531 slugging) and has 30 hits, 17 runs scored, 14 RBI and seven stolen bases. Hewitt is hitting .341 (.431 OBP/.435 slugging) with 29 hits, 25 runs scored, 20 RBI, and six extra-base hits while Bridges is batting .318 (.412 OBP/.447 slugging) with 27 hits, 16 runs scored, seven extra-base hits and seven stolen bases. Centenary as a team has swiped 43 bases with four players having stolen at least seven each.

Sophomore Parker Primeaux (Lake Charles, La.) has had a breakout season as he has developed into Centenary's late-inning specialist and one of the top relief pitchers in the conference. He is 2-1 with a 2.64 ERA and a conference and team-best six saves. He has struck out 24 batters, second on the team, and his ERA is third-lowest on the team. Senior lefty Connor Lee (Sugarland, Texas) has made a team-high nine starts and is 4-1 on the season with a 5.17 ERA. Fellow senior Conner Poche (Lutcher, La.) is a perfect 4-0 with a 2.19 ERA (second on team). Senior Connor Cudd (Lake Charles, La.) is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA.

A link to the Gents' complete 2021 schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2020-21/schedule

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