Cleburne, Texas - The #24 Centenary baseball team dropped a 9-7 decision to #2 Trinity on Friday afternoon in the opening game of the 2021 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Championship at The Depot at Cleburne Station.
The No. 4 seed Gents (30-10) fell into the losers bracket and will face No. 3 Southwestern (19-17), a 7-5 loser versus No. 2 seed Texas Lutheran (26-11). The Gents and Pirates square off at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Saturday following the first game of the day between Trinity (26-5) and TLU at Noon.
Live stats and live video are available for Saturday's game at the links below:
Stats: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2020-21/boxscores/20210508_7zds.xml
Video: Sportsgram.
Following the game, the 2021 All-SCAC Team was announced on the field and Gents' head coach Mike Diaz was named the SCAC Coach of the Year, winning the award for the fifth time in his career. Senior P/1B Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas) was named the SCAC Pitcher of the Year as he entered the championship after recording a stellar regular season as he went 8-1 with a 3.54 ERA. He led the league in wins and was second in ERA.
Ludwick also earned a spot on the All-SCAC First Team along with his teammates, senior RF Cody Crowder (Shepherd, Texas), and sophomore RHP Parker Primeaux (Lake Charles, La.). Five Gents earned Second Team and Honorable Mention honors. Junior CF Gary Hewitt (Cedar Park, Texas), junior SS Brady Robinson (Jacksonville, Texas), and senior LF/DH Tyler Welch (Alexandria, La.) each earned Second Team honors. Junior C/1B Ben Bridges (Beckville, Texas) and senior C/2B Tyler Erickson (Houston, Texas) earned Honorable Mention recognition.
The Gents loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first on a pair of walks to Hewitt and Ludwick sandwiched around a single by Crowder but Welch grounded into a 1-2-3 double play and Erickson grounded out as the Tigers escaped a jam. Centenary shoot off its first-inning disappointment and responded with a pair of runs in the top of the second and added a run in the third to take a 3-0 lead. Robinson and Hewitt delivered back-to-back doubles in the second for the first two Centenary runs and an RBI single by Bridges in the third brought home for the Gents' third run.
LF Brian Brian Schaub hit a two-out grand slam off Ludwick in the third to give Trinity a 4-3 lead, the first home run Ludwick had allowed all season. The Tigers scored the next five runs of the game, single runs in the fourth and fifth followed by a three-spot in the sixth top open up a 9-3 lead. The Gents did not go away though, scoring four in the top of the seventh to cut the Tigers' lead to 9-7. Senior 3B Chris Haggard (Lake Charles, La.) opened the ninth with a ringing double down the left-field line but the Tigers' Matthew Thomas got the next three outs to earn his sixth save of the season.
Tigers' reliever Alex Bihn picked up the win to move to 1-1 on the season as he went 3.2 innings and allowed three runs, one earrned, and four hits with no walks and one strikeout. Centenary hit Trinity starter Mark Tindall hard as he lasted just 2.2 innings and allowed three runs, all earned, and six hits with three walks and no K's. Ludwick fell to 8-2 as he was charged with six runs, all earned, and four hits with three walks and four K's. He allowed three home runs.
Senior RHP Andy Purpura (Bozeman, Mont.) relieved Ludwick and went an inning and allowed three runs, all earned, on three hits including a home run. He did not walk or strike out a batter. Primeaux pitched the final two innings and struck out a pair.
For more information on the 2021 SCAC Baseball Tournament, click here for the official website.
A link to the Gents' complete 2021 schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2020-21/schedule
