Shreveport – The Centenary baseball program has released its 2023 season schedule as the Diamond Gents will begin their regular season at home on Friday, Feb. 10 versus University of the Ozarks at Shehee Stadium.
Centenary is coming off one of its best seasons in program history as the Maroon and White captured the 2022 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship with a 10-5 victory over nationally-ranked Trinity University last May in Cleburne, Texas to earn their second NCAA Championship berth. The Diamond Gents were swept on the road by LaGrange College in their first NCAA appearance since 2017.
The preseason expectations, as always, are lofty for the Maroon and White as the Diamond Gents check in at #36 in Collegiate Baseball's D-3 Preseason Poll and stellar sophomore LHP Tyler Herrera (Spring, Texas) was named to the D3baseball.com Preseason All-America team as a First Team selection last week.
Centenary finished 27-19 last season, 14-7 in SCAC play during the regular season, and went 3-1 in the SCAC Championship. The 27 wins are the third-most in a single season in the division III era (2012-present) and the Maroon and White are an impressive 57-30 over the last two seasons and 28-14 in conference play. Centenary entered the NCAA Tournament having won 11 of 13 games and finished 21-9 since starting the season 6-8. Centenary is an amazing 33-8 on its home field over the last two seasons.
Ten Diamond Gents earned All-SCAC honors last season and seven were named to the 2022 SCAC Championship all-tournament team. Centenary's 12-8 win over Trinity on May 7 in the 2022 SCAC Tournament was head coach Mike Diaz's 275th win the program. He won his 250th game on Feb. 6 with a 6-2 home win over Willamette University. Centenary, one of the top offensive teams in the nation all season, recorded 10+ hits in a game 31 times and scored 10 or more runs 18 times. The Diamond Gents started the season 6-8 but went on a 21-9 run entering the NCAA Tournament.
Diaz enters his 13th season as head coach of the Gents in 2023 as his tenure has been marked by continued success and achievements. He is entering his 19th season overall with the program as he was previously associate head coach from 2005-2010.
Diaz owns a 276-196-1 overall record (.583 winning percentage) and a stellar 95-36 record in SCAC games and has led the Gents to SCAC regular season titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2018, conference tournament titles in 2017 and 2022, and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. Diaz, the longest-tenured Centenary head coach, is the second-winningest coach in school history and needs just 15 wins to tie former head coach Ed McCann (1999-2010) as the winningest coach in program history.
Centenary is scheduled to play 42 regular-season games, 21 at home along with 15 road games, and six neutral contests. The Diamond Gents will play 21 conference games and an identical 21 non-conference contests.
The Diamond Gents will face Ozarks four times on opening weekend, with doubleheaders on both Feb. 10 and 11. Centenary then hits the road to face Whittier College, University of Redlands, and the University of La Verne in California on Feb. 25-26. Centenary is back home on March 3-4 versus Alma College, faces LeTourneau in a non-conference midweek contest on March 7, then heads to Millington, Tenn. for six games during the weekend of March 10-12 at USA Baseball Complex in the Memphis suburb.
Centenary then opens SCAC play at home versus Texas Lutheran University March 17-18 and stays at home the following weekend to face the University of Dallas on March 25-26. The Diamond Gents then complete their home and home series with LeTourneau on March 28 at Shehee Stadium. Centenary's first conference road series is at Trinity on March 31-April 1 but it is just a quick out of town trip as the Maroon and White return home for seven-straight games at Shehee and their final seven home contests of the regular season.
Centenary faces St. Thomas (April 7-8) and Schreiner (April 14-15) and then finishes with East Texas Baptist University on April 18. The Diamond Gents then hit the road for a conference series at Southwestern April 21-22, play ETBU on the road on April 25, and finish the regular season with a league series at Austin College April 28-29.
The 2023 SCAC Baseball Championship is scheduled for May 5-7 in Cleburne, Texas. Centenary will aim to defend its 2022 title and 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.
See the complete Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2022-23/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests. Please note that all dates and times are subject to change.
#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity
