Conway, Ark. – The Centenary baseball team finished the Hendrix College Invitational on a high note on Sunday as the Diamond Gents crushed the University of Ozarks Eagles by a score of 10-3 at Bear Stadium on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas.
The Diamond Gents (2-3) responded nicely on Sunday after falling twice on Saturday - 10-3 to the host Warriors and then 3-2 to Washington University (Mo.) at Warrior Field on the Hendrix campus.
Centenary finished with 14 hits, one shy of its season high of 15 that it had against Rhodes on Feb. 13. The Maroon and White drew four walks, struck out three times, made one error, and left nine on base. The Diamond Gents had one extra-base hit, stole one base, and had a pair of sacrifice flies. Ozarks finished with nine hits, drew three walks, struck out seven times, and also left nine on base. The Eagles committed two errors and had one extra-base hit.
Senior P Blaine Hardy (Shreveport, La.) started on the mound for Centenary and picked up the win as he went 5.2 innings and allowed two runs, one earned, and five hits with two walks and five strikeouts. He faced 25 batters and hit one. Sophomore LHP Cody Myers (Friendswood, Texas) relieved Hardy and allowed one earned run and two hits with no BB and no K as he faced five batters.
Junior P Zachary Malone (Hallsville, Texas) relieved Myers and recorded the final out of the seventh and got the first two outs in the eighth before giving way to sophomore RHP Jacob Broussard (Houston, Texas) with two on two out. Broussard struck out SS Daulton Johnson to end the inning and then came back out for the ninth and gave up a leadoff single but induced a double play and a game-ending line out to seal the win.
Jake Estrada started for the Eagles and received a no-decision after pitching five innings and allowing two runs, both earned, and five hits with two BB and two K's. He faced 23 batters and was then relieved by Isaiah Lemke (0-1) who went 2.2 innings and was hit hard, allowing six runs, four earned, and five hits with two BB and a K and was saddled with the loss as he faced 15 batters. Jose Scianca faced batters as he allowed two runs, both earned, and four hits in just 0.1 innings with no BB and no K's.
Centenary took a 1-0 lead after one inning and then Ozarks scored two in the third to take a 2-1 lead. The Diamond Gents tied it with a run in the bottom half of the third and two scoreless frames followed until the Eagles pushed across a run in the top of the sixth for a 3-2 lead. Centenary struck for two in the bottom of the sixth to regain the lead at 4-3 and then put the game away with six runs in the eighth inning.
Sophomore 3B Clay Menard (Berwick, La.) had a game-high three hits to lead the Centenary offensive attack as he finished 3-3 with three RBI, a walk, and scored two runs. He delivered the clutch two-out, two-run double in the sixth to give Centenary the lead and added a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Senior SS Jobee Boone (Opelousas, La.) finished 2-4 with an RBI, a walk, and two runs scored, sophomore CF Collin Pitts (Lufkin, Texas) was 2-5 with a run scored, and freshman 1B Alex Miller (Cypress, Texas) was 2-5 with two RBI and a run.
Sophomore LF Carson Livesay (Lafayette, La.) went 1-4 a two-RBI single and a sacrifice fly and scored a run, senior RF Austyn Benoit (Welsh, La.) was 1-4 with an RBI single, a walk, and a run scored, senior C Jake Gonce (Katy, Texas) went 1-3 with a BB and a run, and senior Julien DeLeon (Shreveport, La.) had a pinch-hit single and scored a run. Freshman 2B Kade Godfrey (Nacogdoches, Texas) was 1-3.
Ozarks had three players collect two hits apiece – 2B Jose Munoz, CF Cole Clark, and DH Nicholas Bennett. Munoz had a two-RBI single in the third to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead and Daulton Johnson, who went 1-3 with a run scored, had an RBI single which gave Ozarks its 3-2 lead in the sixth. 1B Isaac Price was 1-4 with a BB and C Jake Dempsey finished 1-2 with a BB.
Miller gave Centenary a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single that scored Menard, Livesay's third-inning sac fly scored Menard, and Miller, Benoit, and Boone drove in a combined six runs in the eighth.
Centenary remains on the road next weekend as it heads to California to play Occidental College three times Feb. 23-24 and Chapman on Feb. 25.
See the complete Diamond Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2023-24/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.
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