Georgetown, Texas- The red-hot No. 14 Centenary baseball team will face the Southwestern Pirates in a three-game Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend series beginning with a single game on Friday night and wrapping up with a doubleheader on Saturday at The Rockwell Family Baseball Field.
The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday set for 1 and 4 p.m. Live stats and live video are available for all three games in the series at the links below:
Stats: https://www.southwesternpirates.com/sports/m-basebl/2020-21/boxscores/20210409_2o3h.xml
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KqCyMx09Eo
The Gents (24-2, 9-0 SCAC) moved up to No. 14 in the nation in the latest 2021 D3baseball.com/NCBWA poll announced on Tuesday and enter Friday's game riding the longest winning streak in the country in division III at an astounding 18 games, an all-time school record. Centenary needed extra innings to extend its program-record winning streak on Tuesday night as the Gents held off the East Texas Baptist University Tigers in a non-conference game, 10-8, in 10 innings in Marshall, Texas. The Gents' 18-game streak is four better than Washington University (St. Louis), who has won 14 in a row. Southwestern (9-12, 6-3 SCAC) took two of three at Schreiner last weekend.
Centenary is now a stellar 33-6 in the last 39 games dating back to last season and has not lost a game since falling 8-5 at Huntingdon back on Feb. 28. The Gents are 10-1 on the road this season and have won their last 10 after falling to Belhaven, 5-0, in Jackson, Miss. back on Feb. 20.
The Gents tied the previous longest winning streak of 16 games last Friday with a doubleheader sweep over Dallas at home, winning 5-1 and 12-5. Centenary then set a new record last Saturday with its 17th-straight win, an 8-4 victory to improve to 9-0 in conference play.
The 2017 Gents squad held the previous record for longest winning streak (16) and went on to win 35 games and make the NCAA Tournament. Centenary is now just 11 wins away from tying that overall mark with 14 regular-season games remaining.
The Gents have scored in double figures 13 times this season, reaching 12 or more run in a game eight times and have scored 15 or more three times including a season-high 16 once.
Centenary leads the conference in all team batting, pitching, and fielding and is dominating the various individual statistical categories. The Gents are hitting .343 as a team with an on-base percentage of .433 and are slugging .491. They have scored 224 total runs (8.6 per game), have 306 hits, and have hit 20 home runs. The Gents' team ERA is 2.97 and they have held opponents to a .234 batting average. Their team fielding percentage is .973.
Senior 2B Tyler Erickson (Houston, Texas) leads the team with a .417 average and ranks third in the conference. He leads the conference and the team in hits with 45 and is tied for seventh in the league in RBI with 26. He has scored 21 runs, has six extra-base hits, ranks third in total bases with 53, and has an on-base percentage of .471 and is slugging .491. Maybe his most impressive stat of all is the fact that he has only struck out five times all season in 108 at-bats and has walked as many times (5).
Senior P/1B Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas) is having a superb season at the plate and on the mound. He leads the league in wins (6), strikeouts (44), and is second in ERA (1.98). Ludwick has held opposing batters to a league-leading .157 batting average. He ranks ninth in the conference with a .388 batting average (second on team) and is the league's RBI leader with 34. He has scored 30 runs, second-most in the conference, and ranks third in hits with 40 and is second in total bases with 55.
Senior OF Cody Crowder (Shepherd, Texas) is having an outstanding season as he leads the league in total bases (58), runs (36), and is second in walks (19) and doubles (9). He also has three triples, second-most in the conference, and his on-base percentage (.512) and slugging percentage (.617) each rank fourth and he is tied for seventh in hits (34). He is also tied for third in the league in stolen bases with 11.
Junior catcher Ben Bridges (Beckville, Texas) ranks second in the SCAC in RBI (30) and is tied for ninth in hits with 30. He is batting .306 for the season with an OBP of .408 and is slugging .429. He has scored 20 runs, hit two homers and has six doubles. Junior SS Brady Robinson (Jacksonville, Texas) is hitting .361 (.392 OBP/.526 slugging) with 35 hits (sixth in SCAC), 21 runs scored, and 19 RBI. He is tied for the team lead in home runs (3) and also has five doubles and a triple.
Junior C/OF Gary Hewitt (Cedar Park, Texas) is hitting .361 with an OBP of .448 and a slugging percentage of .474. He ranks third in the SCAC in runs scored (29) and fifth in hits (35). He has 20 RBI, eight extra-base hits, and a team-high 12 stolen bases. Senior 3B Chris Haggard (Lake Charles, La.) is tied with Crowder, Ludwick, and Robinson for the team lead in homers with three and has 27 hits, 25 runs scored, 16 RBI, and five doubles. Haggard has eight multi-hit games this season including a four-hit game and a three-hit performance as well.
Sensational sophomore Parker Primeaux (Lake Charles, La.) leads the SCAC in saves with seven and is 3-1 with a 2.68 ERA. He ranks second on the team with 32 strikeouts.
Senior lefty Connor Lee (Sugarland, Texas) is 5-1 with a 4.53 ERA and has started a team-high 10 games. He leads the league in inning pitched (47.2) and is tied for seventh in strikeouts with 26. Senior Conner Poche (Lutcher, La.) is a perfect 4-0 with a 2.15 ERA (third in SCAC) and is third in wins and seventh in both innings pitched and opposing batting average.
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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