Diamond Gents Open NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday

LaGrange, Ga. – The Centenary baseball team will face LaGrange College in a best-of-five series in the 2022 NCAA Division III Championship beginning Friday at Noon at Cleaveland Field in Williamson Stadium.

Live stats and live video are available for all games of the series at the link below:

Stats and Video: https://www.lagrangepanthers.com/sports/bsb/2021-22/releases/20220518hsb7sz

The complete weekend schedule is below:  

(All times EDT)

Game 1- Friday, May 20: 12 p.m.  

Game 2-Friday, May 20: 45 minutes after conclusion of Game 1 

Game 3- Saturday, May 21: 12 p.m.  

Game 4 (if necessary)- Saturday, May 21: 45 minutes after conclusion of Game 3  

Game 5 (if necessary)- Sunday, May 22: 12 p.m.

The Diamond Gents (27-16) defeated nationally-ranked Trinity by a score of 10-5 to win the 2022 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship on May 8 in Cleburne, Texas while the Panthers (37-6) claimed the USA South Athletic Conference title on May 14 with a win over N.C. Wesleyan. The Diamond Gents and Panthers will meet for the first time but interestingly were scheduled to play each other in the Millsaps Tournament back in February.

The NCAA Championship berth is Centenary's second after appearing in the 2017 event in Tyler, Texas where the Diamond Gents went 1-2. The Panthers are in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time and for the second year in a row. They also appeared in the event in 2010, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

The national tournament field is made up of 60 teams playing in 14 four-team regions and two two-team regions. The 16 region winners advance to the Super Regionals scheduled for May 27-28. The finals are set for June 3-8 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Season Recap:

Centenary enters the NCAA Tournament having won 11 of its last 13 games. The Diamond Gents are 21-9 since starting the season 6-8.

Ten Gents earned All-SCAC honors and seven were named to the 2022 SCAC Championship all-tournament team.

Centenary has appeared in the SCAC Championship game five times in its history, winning it twice and finishing as runner-up in 2013, 2015, and 2018.

Centenary's 27 wins this season are the third-most in a single season in the D3 era (2012-present).

Centenary, one of the top offensive teams in the nation, has recorded 10+ hits in a game 28 times this season and scored 10 or more runs 18 times.

Centenary's 12-8 win over Trinity on May 7 in the 2022 SCAC Tournament was head coach Mike Diaz's 275^th win the program.

Top Performers:

Senior 1B/RHP Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas) reached three individual milestones this season – 200 hits, 150 RBI, and 150 strikeouts on the mound. The versatile and dynamic Ludwick earned First-Team All-SCAC honors at first base, earning first-team all-conference honors for the third time in his stellar career. Ludwick, the leading hitter in the conference (.411) ranks in the top 10 in the conference in multiple statistical categories and is the team leader in batting average, hits, walks, doubles, RBI, and on-base percentage. Ludwick was also one of Centenary's top pitchers this season, going 5-3 with 12 appearances and a team-leading 12 starts. He threw one complete game and struck out 58 batters in 60.2 innings pitched. Ludwick recorded his 150^th career strikeout on May 8 in the 2022 SCAC Tournament. He played in all 43 games for the Diamond Gents and had 65 hits in 158 at-bats with 37 runs scored, 42 RBI, 33 walks and just 20 strikeouts. He hit five home runs, 11 doubles, three triples, and stole two bases. His OBP is .517 and is slugging .614. Ludwick had 23 multi-hit games this season including six three-hit performances. Ludwick had a 28-game hitting streak from Feb. 6-April 10 and recorded his 200th career hit on April 2 as he became just the fourth player in the current division III era (2012-present) in program history to record 200 or more hits in a career. He also became the 46th SCAC baseball player to reach 200 hits in his career. He recorded his 150^th career RBI on April 23 versus Southwestern and ranks second in career RBI in the D3 era. Ludwick, named SCAC Hitter of the Week after getting his 200^th career hit, was named to the 2022 SCAC Championship All-Tournament Team after hitting .357 (5-14) with a home run, four RBI, five walks, and a run scored.

Freshman LHP Tyler Herrera (Spring, Texas) was sensational this season as he was named both the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year this season and was also a First-Team All-SCAC selection. He currently ranks ninth in the country in ERA (1.34) and is a perfect 7-0 with two complete games. Herrera, whose ERA was under 1.00 for most of the season, has made 15 appearances and eight starts and in 67.0 innings pitched has allowed just 10 earned runs and 52 hits with 23 walks and 56 strikeouts. He has gone at least 5.1 innings in all eight of his starts highlighted by a season-best 8.1 innings in a 2-1 win over Texas Lutheran on May 6 in the 2022 SCAC Tournament. Herrera leads the conference in ERA and opposing batting average and also ranks in the top 10 in innings pitched and strikeouts. In consecutive conference starts against Texas Lutheran (March 19) and Trinity (March 25), Herrera allowed just seven hits and one unearned run in 14 innings with 14 strikeouts. In his last six starts, Herrera has allowed two earned runs or less in each start including three times allowing none. Herrera is a two-time SCAC Pitcher of the Week recipient, and was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Rookie of the Week on March 31. Herrera is the only Centenary player in the division III era (2012-present) to win both the conference Freshman of the Year and Pitcher of the Year awards in the same season. He is on pace to have the lowest ERA in a season by any Centenary pitcher in the D3 era.

Junior RHP Parker Primeaux (Lake Charles, La.) was one of the top pitchers in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference all season and earned First-Team All-SCAC honors as the Relief Pitcher. Primeaux went 9-5 with a 3.72 ERA and had three saves and a pair of complete games. He led the team in wins, saves, innings pitched (75.1), strikeouts (75) and was tied for the lead in complete games with two. He made a team-high 21 appearances including seven starts and allowed just 63 hits and 37 runs (31 earned) with only 17 walks. He ranked in the top five in the SCAC in ERA, innings pitched, and strikeouts. He pitched 6.0 or more six times during the season and pitched 3.0 or more innings in relief seven times. Primeaux picked up the save in Centenary's 2-1 win over Texas Lutheran on May 6 in the 2022 SCAC Tournament and now has 13 career saves as he is just four shy of the D3 era career record.

About LaGrange:

The Panthers are making their fifth straight and sixth overall appearance in the Division III tournament. LaGrange won the USA South Tournament

championship for the fifth year in a row but the victory was tempered by the loss of freshman pitchers Stephen Bartolotta and Jacob Brown in a car accident hours later.

LaGrange is ranked No. 4 in the country in the latest D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 poll. The Panthers are 22-4 at home this season and enter the NCAA

Tournament riding a six-game winning streak.

The Panthers have played in a two-team region one other time. They lost to Birmingham-Southern in five games in 2019. This marks the first time a

LaGrange College athletic team has hosted a NCAA event.

LaGrange placed seven players on the USA South All-Conference teams this season. Junior third baseman Joe Ruth was named the Player of the Year

and Panthers' head coach David Kelton was named the USA South Coach of the Year.

The Panthers are hitting .355 as a team with a 4.56 team ERA and a .964 fielding percentage.

The LaGrange-Centenary winner will face the winner of the Orange, Calif. Region Hosted by Chapman University which features host Chapman, Pomona-Pitzer, Cal Lutheran, and Pacific (Ore.).

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

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