Diamond Gents Set To Face #16 Trinity In Big Conference Series At Home

Shreveport– The Centenary baseball team will face the #16 Trinity University Tigers this weekend in a key Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. at Shehee Stadium.

Live stats and live video are available for all three games at the links below:

Stats: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2021-22/boxscores/20220325_hyji.xml

Video: https://collegetvticket.com/event/centenary-college-vs-trinity-university/

The Diamond Gents (11-10, 1-2 SCAC) and Tigers (10-6, 3-0 SCAC) will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 and 4 p.m. Centenary opened conference play last weekend by losing two of three games at Texas Lutheran but ended the series on a high note as the Maroon and White won the final game 2-1. Trinity opened league play by sweeping Southwestern at home last weekend. The Tigers are ranked 16th in the latest D3baseball.com/NCBWA poll.

The series will feature two of the conference's top offensive teams as the Tigers are hitting .313 as a team and the Diamond Gents are batting .306. The Tigers boast 10 players hitting .300 or better this season while five of Centenary's regular starters are at .300 or better. Centenary and Trinity are second and third in the conference in team pitching as the Diamond Gents have a team ERA of 5.35 and the Tigers are at 5.85. Centenary and Trinity are also in the top five in the league in both fielding percentage and stolen bases. The Diamond Gents have a .963 fielding percentage and the Tigers are at .952. Centenary has 36 stolen bases in 48 attempts and Trinity is 30-37.

The Diamond Gents are 6-3 at home this season and 26-6 in their last 32 home games dating back to the beginning of last season. Centenary's offense has been superb all season, especially at home where the Diamond Gents have averaged 14 runs per game over their last four and recorded a dominating 17-7 win over Millsaps in their most recent home game on March 9. Prior to the win over the Majors, the Diamond Gents won three of four games over Alma College Feb. 20-21, winning the final three by a combined score of 39-7 including a pair of run-rule blowouts in seven innings to sweep a doubleheader.

Centenary has now scored 10 or more runs in a game a staggering 26 times over the last two seasons and done so seven times this season. Centenary has also recorded 10 or more hits in game 14 times and at least 13 hits eight times. The Diamond Gents have collected 61 extra-base hits this season, including 14 triples which is the fourth-most in the country in division III. Centenary also has 37 doubles and hit 10 home runs. The Diamond Gents' 221 hits are tied for 16^th in the country and their 163 runs ranks 23^rd. Centenary is averaging 7.7 run per game this season.

Centenary and Trinity are annually two of the top teams in the conference and this season is no different. The Tigers were tied with Texas Lutheran in the preseason poll voted as the favorite to win the conference regular-season title. Centenary was picked to finish third, earning 44 total points. The Diamond Gents lost three of four games to the Tigers last season, dropping two of three in San Antonio in the regular season and then fell 9-7 in their opening game of the 2021 SCAC Tournament in Cleburne, Texas.

Senior 1B/RHP Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas) leads the team in batting average (.415), hits (34), RBI (18), and doubles (6). The versatile Ludwick also leads the team in games started (five) and is 2-2 with a 7.94 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 22.2 innings pitched. Junior RHP Parker Primeaux (Lake Charles, La.) leads the team in wins as he is 4-2 with a 4.78 ERA. He has made a team-high nine appearances, started three games, and thrown one complete game.

Senior RHP/OF Luke Royle (Dodge City, Kan.) is 3-1 on the mound this season with a 4.67 ERA and has one complete game. Royle is hitting 263 with an on-base percentage of .378 and is slugging .474. He has 10 hits, scored six runs, and six RBI. Royle has two triples, a homer, and a double. Freshman LHP Tyler Herrera (Spring, Texas) is off to an impressive start in his rookie season as he is 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA and 19 strikeouts in his 18 innings of work with just eight walks.

Herrera and Primeaux combined to limit Texas Lutheran to just six hits in the Diamond Gents' 2-1 win in game two of their doubleheader last Saturday in Seguin, Texas. Herrera started and went six innings, allowing just four hits and an unearned run with two walks and five strikeouts. Primeaux came in with the game tied at 1-1 and pitched the final three innings to pick up the win. He kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard and allowed just two hits with one walk and one strikeout. Senior DH Tyler Welch (Pineville, La.) delivered a game-winning RBI single in the eighth to give Centenary the win. Centenary is 3-2 in one-run games this season.

Welch, senior SS Brady Robinson (Jacksonville, Texas), and senior 2B/C Tyler Erickson (Houston, Texas) each have 20 or more hits, led by 27 from Robinson, and each have three or doubles. Erickson and Welch have three and Robinson has four. Welch is hitting .364 with a .494 OBP and is slugging .455. He has scored 23 runs, has nine RBI, a team-best 16 walks against only nine strikeouts and has stolen a team-high six bases. Robinson has a team-best three triples to go with his four doubles and has 14 RBI and four stolen bases. He is hitting .307 with a .337 OBP and is slugging .420. Erickson has scored 12 runs and driven in nine. He is hitting .299 with an OBP of .347 and is slugging .373.

Senior C Ben Bridges (Beckville, Texas) is hitting .314 this season with an OBP of .443 and is slugging .486. He is tied with Ludwick for the team lead in RBI with 18 and has 22 hits and 16 runs scored. He has walked 14 times and only struck out nine times. He has six doubled and two homers.  He finished 3-5 with a game-high four RBI versus Millsaps with two runs scored, and a walk. He blasted a mammoth three-run home run into the parking lot beyond the left-center field wall in the bottom of the eighth for the final three runs of the game.

Junior 2B Cole Collins (Shreveport, La.) is having a solid season on offense as he is hitting .333 with a .417 OBP and is slugging a team-best .714. He has 17 runs scored, 14 hits, a team-high three home runs, three doubles, and two triples. He is tied for the team lead in stolen bases (six) with Welch and senior OF Gary Hewitt (Cedar Park, Texas). Freshman OF Cade LaBruyere (Iowa, La.) is enjoying a fantastic rookie season as he has totaled 16 hits, 14 runs, two doubles, a triple, and 15 RBI. He is hitting .286 with a .397 OBP and is slugging .357. Sophomore Austyn Benoit (Welsh, La.) is hitting .308 (.383 OBP/.346 slugging) with 16 hits, 10 runs scored, 12 RBI, and two stolen bases.

See the complete Diamond Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2021-22/schedule

Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests but be advised of current COVID-19 protocols for fans. Updated COVID-19 information is now available via www.GoCentenary.com.

Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests. Please note that all dates and times are subject to change.

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