Irving, Texas - The Centenary baseball team opened Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Monday afternoon by splitting a doubleheader with the University of Dallas Crusaders, winning game one 8-0 and falling 6-3 in game two at the UD Baseball Facility.
The Diamond Gents (6-9, 1-1 SCAC) snapped their five-game losing streak with the game one win and recorded their first shutout of the season and first since blanking Austin College, 13-0 in seven innings, on April 29, 2023. The Crusaders (13-4, 1-1 SCAC) improved to 8-3 at home this season.
Centenary, despite the game two loss, is 27-11 all-time against Dallas and winners of 11 of the last 13 and have not lost a conference series to the Crusaders since the 2016 season. The series was supposed to begin on Saturday with a single game on Sunday but inclement weather pushed the games to Sunday and then the DH was rescheduled for Monday. The third and final game of the series is postponed with a potential makeup date yet to be determined.
Game one recap: Centenary 8 Dallas 0
Sophomore LHP Cody Myers (Friendswood, Texas) started on the mound for Centenary and was superb as he went seven innings and allowed just two hits with a season and career-high 13 strikeouts to improve to 4-1 on the season. Myers' 13 K's are tied for the second-most in a single game in the division III era (2012-present). He faced 25 batters and threw 134 pitches with 81 for strikes
Junior P Zachary Malone (Hallsville, Texas) went the final two innings in relief of Myers and did allowed just one hit with a walk. He faced seven batters and threw only five pitches, four for strikes, to get six outs.
The Diamond Gents finished with 11 hits, three of which were extra-base hits, and stole four bases. Centenary did not draw a walk, struck out seven times, left five on base, but did not commit an error. The Crusaders managed just three hits, walked three times, struck out 13 times, left five on base, and made two errors.
Crusaders' starter Adrian Montenegro suffered his first loss of the season to fall to 4-1 as he allowed seven runs, all earned, and nine hits in five innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out five. He faced 24 batters, allowing one home run, and threw 95 pitches – 66 for strikes. Landon Phillips relieved him and pitched the final four innings and yielded just an unearned run and two hits with no BB and two K's. He faced 16 batters and threw 52 pitches (35 strikes).
Centenary jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after an inning and added four more in the fifth and one in the eighth to cruise to the win. Freshman 1B Alex Miller (Cypress, Texas) drove in sophomore LF Carson Livesay (Lafayette, La.) with an RBI single and one out later, senior SS Jobee Boone (Opelousas, La.) belted a two-run homer to left to score Miller for a 3-0 lead.
Freshman 2B Braeden Morse (Pearland, Texas) scored on a wild pitch in the fifth, Miller's triple scored Livesay, senior RF Austyn Benoit (Welsh, La.) doubled to score Miller, and Boone's sacrifice fly scored Miller to make it 7-0. Senior C Jake Gonce (Katy, Texas) had Centenary's final RBI of the game on a sac bunt in the eighth to score Boone.
Livesay, Miller, Boone, and Gonce each had two hits and Benoit, Morse, and sophomore 3B Clay Menard (Berwick, La.) had one each. Boone led the way with three RBI, Miller had two, and Benoit and Gonce each had one. Livesay, Boone, and Miller each scored two runs and Benoit and Morse scored the other two.
Dallas got a one-out single from 3B Fernando Davila in the first inning, a two-out single in the fifth by 2B Reed Morales, and a two-out single in the ninth by 1B Caleb Hohman. Myers struck out three in the first sandwiched around a single, a walk and a wild pitch, struck out the side in the second, one in the third, and struck out the side again in the fourth. He registered a pair of K's in the fifth, and one more in the seventh- his final batter of the game.
Game two recap: Dallas 6 Centenary 3
Junior LHP Tyler Herrera (Spring, Texas) started for Centenary and received a no-decision as he went 5.1 innings and allowed just one earned run and three hits with five walks and six strikeouts. He faced 25 batters, hit one, and threw 106 pitches with 57 for strikes.
Dallas starter Dylan Krause (4-0) got the win to remain perfect on the season as he tossed six innings of three-hit ball and only allowed one earned run. He walked a pair and struck out six. He faced 23 batters and threw 103 pitches (67 strikes). Marcelo Carillo II worked 1.1 innings in relief of Krause and was charged with two earned runs and three hits with three walks and two K's. He faced 10 batters and threw 43 pitches – 21 for strikes.
The game was scoreless for three innings until Centenary scored a run in the top of the fourth as a groundout by freshman DH Walker Wicklund (Shreveport, La.) scored Benoit. The Crusaders tied the game in the bottom half on a sac fly by Morales.
Dallas scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to take a 4-1 lead and all three runs came with two outs. CF Paxton Huff grounded out to short to start the inning and pinch-hitter Luke Gill singled to right. Centenary then went to the bullpen as Herrera was removed for sophomore RHP Jacob Broussard (Houston, Texas). Gill was picked off for the second out but Broussard walked C Ryan Metcalf, who then moved to second on a wild pitch. Morales walked and Broussard struck out DH Tyler Darnell, but he reached base on a wild pitch and Metcalf scored on a throwing error by Gonce that also moved Morales to second.
The frustrating inning continued as a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third and then Broussard walked Davila to load the bases. SS Jake Amoroso then reached on an infield single to score Morales and make it 3-1. Darnell then crossed home on another wild pitch that made it 4-1. The Crusaders scored another run in the seventh on an RBI single by Morales that made it 5-1. Senior P Blaine Hardy (Shreveport, La.) came in after Broussard and pitched an inning and allowed one earned run on one hit with three BB and one K. He faced seven batters and threw 27 pitches – 14 for strikes.
Centenary scored two runs on three hits in the eighth but left the bases loaded as the Maroon and White were only able to cut the deficit to 5-3. Menard walked with one out and Miler reached on an infield single. Benoit then worked a walk to load the bases with just one out. Boone brought Menard home with an RBI single to make it 5-2. Sophomore DH Lenny Forth (Flower Mound, Texas) singled to left to score Miller and the Dallas lead was cut to two at 5-3.
Dallas turned to Collin Johnson to replace Carillo II and the Diamond Gents inserted junior Zachery Van Gorkom (Shreveport, La.) as a pinch-hitter. He reached on a fielder's choice to first but Benoit was thrown out at home for the second out. Gonce then grounded to short to end the threat and strand the bases loaded.
Malone came in for Hardy and allowed a sac fly to Huff in the eighth as the Crusaders scored their sixth and final run of the game. Malone went 2/3 of an inning and walked one. Senior P Hank Bennett (Richmond, Texas) came in for Malone and allowed a single to Gill but then picked off Walker Alsobrooks to get out of the inning. Johnson retired Centenary in order in the top of the ninth to record his fifth save of the season.
Each team finished with six hits and each made one error. Centenary drew five walks, struck out nine times, and left eight on base. Dallas walked 13 times, struck out eight times, and left 12 on base. The Diamond Gents stole on base and the Crusaders did not have a steal.
Livesay finished 1-4 with a walk, Menard was 0-3 but walked once and scored a run, Miller went 1-4 with a run scored, Benoit was 0-2 but walked twice and scored a run, Boone finished 1-3 with an RBI, and Morse was 1-4 with a stolen base. Wicklund and Forth combined to finish 2-4 with two RBI and a walk.
Centenary returns home this weekend for its first conference series at home as the Diamond Gents will face the Austin College 'Roos in a doubleheader on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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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