Houston- The Centenary baseball team exploded for a season-high tying 19 runs on Friday night in its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series opener over the University of St. Thomas Celts, as the Diamond Gents cruised to a dominating 19-1 victory in eight innings at Don Sanders Field at Darryl & Lori Schroeder Park on the University of Houston campus.
The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 and 4 p.m. to wrap up the series. Live stats and live video are available at the link below:
Stats and Video: https://ustcelts.com/sports/bsb/2021-22/schedule
The Diamond Gents (24-13, 14-5 SCAC) extended their season-high winning streak to 10 games while the Celts (15-23, 9-10 SCAC) had their three-game winning streak snapped. Centenary has won 12 of its last 13 games and is 10-7 on the road this season. Centenary is 4-0 all-time versus St. Thomas after sweeping them at home last season. The Diamond Gents also scored 19 runs earlier this season in a 19-3 at Occidental on March 5.
Centenary secured a berth in the upcoming SCAC Championship with its home sweep over Southwestern last weekend and will be the No. 3 seed in Cleburne, Texas May 6-8. Trinity (17-2 SCAC) and Texas Lutheran (16-3 SCAC) have also secured berths and the Celts and Southwestern (8-11 SCAC) are fighting for the fourth and final spot. Southwestern beat Dallas 11-2 on Friday.
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 seven times. The Diamond Gents have appeared in every conference championship since joining the SCAC nine years ago.
The Maroon and White have now scored 10 or more runs in a game 16 times this season and 33 times over the last two seasons. Centenary has scored 15+ runs in a game seven times this season and scored in double digits nine times in conference play. The Diamond Gents have also recorded 10 or more hits in game 25 times this season, and at least 13 hits an astounding 17 times.
Centenary jumped out to a 5-1 lead after three innings and scored 14 combined from the fifth through the seventh to run away with the easy win. Freshman LHP Tyler Herrera (Spring, Texas) continued his remarkable rookie season as he remained undefeated (6-0) and pitched his second complete game of the season as he allowed just one earned run and three hits in seven innings of work. He walked just one and struck out five, throwing 72 pitches (47 strikes).
Landon Murray (4-5) suffered the loss for the Celts as he was roughed up for nine runs, all earned, and 12 hits in 4.2 innings with a walk and four K's. He faced 26 batters, allowed one home run, and threw 83 pitches (52 strikes). Three St. Thomas relievers combined to pitch the final 2.1 innings and allowed 10 runs (four earned) on six hits.
Six Centenary players recorded multi-hit games, led by senior C Ben Bridges (Beckville, Texas) and fellow senior, 2B Tyler Erickson (Houston, Texas), who each had three hits. Bridges finished 3-5 with a homer, game-high four RBI and three runs scored. Erickson was 3-4 with two RBI, two runs scored, and a walk.
Freshman OF Cade LaBruyere (Iowa, La.), junior SS Noah Koehmstedt (San Diego, Calif.), and senior 3B Brady Robinson (Jacksonville, Texas) combined to go 5-13 with six RBI and six runs scored. Senior DH Tyler Welch (Pineville, La.), senior RF Luke Royle (Dodge City, Kan.) and senior 1B Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas) went 5-12 with two RBI, six runs scored, and a walk.
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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