Houston- The Centenary baseball team will play its final series of the regular season this weekend as the Diamond Gents are set to face the University of St. Thomas Celts in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play beginning with a single game on Friday at 6 p.m. at the University of Houston.
Live stats and live video are available for all three games of the series at the links below:
Stats: https://ustcelts.com/sports/bsb/2021-22/boxscores/20220429_5m87.xml
Video: https://livestream.com/coopersports3/ustbaseball
The teams will complete the series on Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled for 1 and 4 p.m. This weekend provides a unique setting as the series will be played at the University of Houston Cougars' home ballpark, Don Sanders Field at Darryl & Lori Schroeder Park.
The Diamond Gents (23-13, 13-5 SCAC) enter the series red hot as they are riding a season-high nine game winning streak after three-consecutive series sweeps in conference play. The Celts (15-22, 9-9 SCAC) have won three in a row after sweeping Dallas on the road last weekend. Centenary has won 11 of its last 12 games and is 9-7 on the road this season. Centenary is 3-0 all-time versus St. Thomas after sweeping them at home last season.
Centenary secured a berth in next weekend's SCAC Championship with its home sweep over Southwestern and will likely be the No. 3 seed in Cleburne, Texas May 6-8. Trinity (16-2 SCAC) and Texas Lutheran (15-3 SCAC) have also secured berths and the Celts and Southwestern (7-11 SCAC) are fighting for the fourth and final spot. Southwestern plays host to Dallas (3-15 SCAC) this weekend.
The Diamond Gents have now won 10 or more regular season conference games in every season since joining the SCAC (2013-present) and have won 13 or more six times. The Diamond Gents have appeared in every conference championship since joining the SCAC nine years ago.
Centenary recorded a walk-off win in the series opener last Friday over Southwestern and then swept a doubleheader on Saturday, winning both in run-rule fashion, 11-0 in game one and 18-4 in game two on Senior Day at Shehee Stadium.
The Diamond Gents enter the series this weekend as one of the top offensive teams in the conference and in the country in division III as they boast a team batting average of .327 with an on-base percentage of .415 and are slugging .457. Centenary has scored 304 runs (averaging 8.4 per game), collected 409 hits, hit 17 home runs, have 105 extra-base hits, and stolen 76 bases.
Centenary ranks in the top 50 in the country in batting average, hits, runs, stolen bases, and triples. The Maroon and White have scored 10 or more runs in a game 15 times this season and 32 times over the last two seasons. Centenary has scored 15+ runs in a game six times this season and scored in double digits eight times in conference play. The Diamond Gents have also recorded 10 or more hits in game 24 times this season, and at least 13 hits 16 times.
Centenary features the top hitter - Senior 1B/RHP Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas) and top pitcher - freshman LHP Tyler Herrera (Spring, Texas) in the conference as Ludwick's .418 batting average is tops in the SCAC and Herrera leads in ERA at an impressive 1.08. Eight Centenary hitters with at least 40 at-bats this season are hitting over .300 and five are hitting .330 or better. Junior RHP Parker Primeaux (Lake Charles, La.) is currently second in the league in innings pitched (63.0), fourth in ERA (3.43), and also fourth in strikeouts (67). He was named the SCAC Pitcher of the Week on Monday after earning two wins in the sweep over Southwestern.
Ludwick, who is also 5-2 on the mound this season and has made a team-leading 10 starts, ranks third in the league in RBI (35) and has a team-high 56 hits with 33 runs scored in 143 at-bats. He has hit a team-high four homers, 10 doubles (most on team) and three triples (third on team) with an on-base percentage of .509 and is slugging .627 as he makes his case for SCAC Hitter of the Year honors. Ludwick recorded his 200th career hit on April 2 as he becomes just the fourth player in the current division III era (2012-present) in program history to record 200 or more hits in a career. Ludwick also became the 46th SCAC baseball player to reach 200 hits in his career. He recorded his 150th career RBI last Saturday versus Southwestern and ranks second in career RBI in the D3 era.
Herrera, whose ERA was below 1.00 for most of the season, has been superb this season as he has made 12 appearances and six starts and is 5-0 with one complete game. He has allowed just six earned runs in 50.0 innings pitched with 20 walks and 47 strikeouts. He has gone at least 5.1 innings in his last six starts, yielding just four earned runs over those 38 innings with 33 K's. The rookie leads the conference and ranks 10th in the country in division III in ERA. Herrera, a two-time SCAC Pitcher of the Week recipient, was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Rookie of the Week on March 31.
Primeaux is 8-3 on the season and leads the team in both complete games (2) and saves (2) with a 3.43 ERA. He is tied for 38th in the country in WHIP and has only walked 13 batters and allowed three home runs in his 63 innings pitched. Primeaux has 12 career saves and is just five shy of the D3 era career record held by Taylor Henry with 17.
Senior 3B Brady Robinson (Jacksonville, Texas) notched his 100th-career hit last weekend versus Southwestern and is hitting .312 this season (.353 OBP/.439 slugging) with 49 hits, 35 runs scored, 25 RBI, 14 extra-base hits, and seven stolen bases. Senior C/1B Ben Bridges (Beckville, Texas) is hitting .311 (.429 OBP/.455 slugging) with 41 hits, 32 runs scored, 27 RBI, and 12 extra-base hits. Senior DH Tyler Welch (Pineville, La.) is hitting .366 (seventh in SCAC) with 48 hits, 41 runs scored (fifth in SCAC) and has 26 RBI. He boasts a .458 OBP and .481 slugging percentage. He has 10 extra-base hits and 11 stolen bases. Senior OF Luke Royle (Dodge City, Kan.) is hitting .355 (.438 OBP/.513 slugging) with 27 hits, 20 runs, 19 RBI, seven extra-base hits, and nine stolen bases.
Freshman OF Cade LaBruyere (Iowa, La.) continues to shine in his rookie season as he is hitting .352 with an OBP of 437 and .463 slugging percentage. He has 38 hits, 29 runs scored, 22 RBI, 11 stolen bases, and seven extra-base hits. Senior IF/C Tyler Erickson (Houston, Texas) is hitting .376 (sixth in SCAC) with 47 hits, 26 runs, 21 RBI, and five extra-base hits. Erickson currently has a seven-game hitting streak and has posted multi-hit performances five times in that span. He has 13 multi-hit games this season including a trio of three-hit games, a four-hit-game, and one five-hit effort. Junior IF/DH Cole Collins (Shreveport, La.) is batting .333 this season (.423 OBP/.711 slugging percentage) with three home runs (tied for second on team), 15 hits, 15 RBI, 18 runs scored, nine extra-base hits, and six stolen bases.
Nine Centenary players have collected at least six or more extra-base hits this season with four having 10 or more and seven players have stolen at least six bases. Three players (Bridges, Ludwick, and Welch) with at least 130 at-bats have walked more than they have struck out.
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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