Shreveport- The Centenary baseball team fell 5-3 in 11 innings to the University of Texas at Dallas Comets in its home opener on Tuesday evening in a non-conference contest at Shehee Stadium.
The Diamond Gents (5-5) finally played their first home game of the season after playing their first nine away from Shreveport. The Comets improved to 9-3 with the win. The Teams will face each other twice more this weekend in San Antonio at Trinity University - on Friday at 2:30 p.m. and again on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Sophomore LHP Cody Myers (Friendswood, Texas) started on the mound for Centenary and received a no-decision in a solid outing as he went seven innings and allowed just one earned run on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts. He faced 26 batters and threw 85 pitches – 53 for strikes.
Apollo Cassimatis started for the Comets as was one of eight pitchers to toe the rubber for the visitors. He went three innings and allowed no runs on just one hit with a walk and four strikeouts. He faced 11 batters and threw 48 pitches (29 strikes). The eight UT-Dallas pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts in the game.
Centenary sophomore RHP Jacob Broussard (Houston, Texas) suffered the loss to fall to 0-2 as he worked two innings and allowed two runs, both earned, on two hits with a pair of walks and five K's. He faced 10 batters and threw 41 pitches – 25 strikes. Ben Price (1-2) was the final pitcher for the Comets and picked up the win as he pitched two innings and allowed just two hits with a K. He faced seven batters and threw 19 pitches, 16 for strikes.
The Diamond Gents finished with 11 hits and drew six walks, but left 12 on base and struck out 10 times while committing one error. The Comets had nine hits, drew seven walks, also struck out 10 times, left nine on base, and played error-free ball. Centenary has posted at least 10 hits in nine of its 10 games this season.
The game was scoreless through three innings until Comets' 3B Dylan Bivins brought home CF Lucas Rexin with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0. Three scoreless frames followed and then UT-Dallas added a pair of runs in the eighth off of Centenary's first reliever, junior P Zachary Malone (Hallsville, Texas). Bivins struck again, this time with a two-run double with two outs to score RF Luke Finn and 2B Albert Garza for a 3-0 lead.
Freshman 1B Alex Miller (Cypress, Texas) led off the Centenary eighth with a single for the Diamond Gents' first hit since sophomore CF Collin Pitts (Lufkin, Texas) doubled with two outs in the fifth. Comets' reliever Jake Jennings, though, settled in and struck out sophomore 3B Clay Menard (Berwick, La.) and senior RF Austyn Benoit (Welsh, La.). Senior SS Jobee Boone (Opelousas, La.) then singled up the middle, his third hit of the game, to move Miller to second.
Sophomore DH Lenny Forth (Flower Mound, Texas) then beat out an infield grounder to third for a single to load the bases. Senior C Jake Gonce (Katy, Texas) then stepped to the plate and came through with a clutch, game-tying two-run single up the middle to pull Centenary within a run at 3-2. Jennings was pulled for Caleb Vuono and he got freshman 2B Braeden Morse (Pearland, Texas) to ground to third to end the inning.
Broussard came in for Malone in the top of the ninth and gave up a leadoff double to C Nico Fernandez, but then struck out the next three batters to keep the game tied. Sophomore LF Carson Livesay (Lafayette, La.) doubled down the left-field line to start the ninth and Pitts moved him over with a sacrifice bunt. Livesay then raced home on a passed ball that tied the game at 3-3. Miller then singled and went to second on a balk as the Maroon and White had the potential winning run at second, but Vuono retired Menard and Benoit to send the game to extra innings.
The Comets had a runner reach third base with just one out in the top of the 10th but Broussard struck out Finn and Bivins to end the threat and send it to the bottom of the 10th still tied at 3-3. Price came in for Vuono in the 10th and retired the Diamond Gents in order and the game moved to the 11th. The first two batters reached on a walk and single and Broussard was pulled for senior P Blaine Hardy (Shreveport, La.).
Hardy uncorked a wild pitch that moved the runners to second and third and then gave up a single to DH Grayson Coltharp which made it 4-3. He then recorded a strikeout, walked a batter, and got a line out for the second out of the inning. But, a second wild pitch allowed the fifth and final run to score to make it a 5-3 game. Garza grounded out to end the innings but the damage was done.
Morse flew out to start the bottom of the 11th and Livesay singled. Pitts followed with a single that put two on with just one out. Miller then ripped a ball to short that the Comets turned into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play, as Garza's throw to 1B Zach Landry just beat Miller to end the game.
Malone, Centenary's second pitcher, went an inning and allowed two runs, both earned, on two hits with one walk. He did not strike out a batter and faced six, throwing 23 pitches (13 strikes). Hardy worked an inning and allowed one hit with one walk and one K. He faced five batters and threw 23 pitches (23 strikes).
Boone went 3-5 with a run scored to pace Centenary's offense, Livesay, Pitts, and Miller each had two hits, Gonce was 1-4 with his two-run single and a walk, and Livesay also walked twice and stole a base. Landry and Fernandez each had two hits for the Comets and Bivins was 1-4 with three RBI.
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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