Baseball Completes Series Sweep Of Southwestern

Shreveport- The Centenary baseball team swept a doubleheader on Saturday over the Southwestern University Pirates by scores of 12-9 and 11-5 to complete a three-game series weekend sweep in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play at Shehee Stadium.

The Diamond Gents (14-10, 9-2 SCAC) recorded a 5-1 victory on Friday night in the series opener and have won nine of 11 games. The Pirates fell to 15-14 and 6-6 in league play with Saturday's losses. Centenary is an impressive 52-16 at home since the beginning of the 2021 season and improved to 6-1 at home this season.

Game one recap: Centenary 12 Southwestern 9

The Diamond Gents banged out 14 hits, collecting 10+ hits in a game for the 18^th time this season and scoring double-digit runs in a game for the ninth time. They walked twice, only struck out one time, made one error, and left eight men on base. The Pirates had 11 hits, walked five times, struck out six times, left seven on base, and made five costly errors.

Southwestern scored a run in the top of the first but Centenary answered with a pair in the bottom half of the inning, and after the Pirates scored another run in the top of the second to tie the game at 2-2, the Diamond Gents responded with four in the bottom of the second to take a 6-2 lead.

Following a scoreless third inning, each team scored a run in the fourth to make it a 7-3 game. Southwestern then scored three times in the fifth to get within a run at 7-6 but the Diamond Gents tacked on a run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 8-6. Centenary then extended its lead with four runs in the sixth to lead 12-6 and those insurance runs came in handy as the Pirates scored three times in the top of the eighth to make it 12-9.

Senior P Blaine Hardy (Shreveport, La.) started on the mound and received a no-decision as he went 4.1 innings and allowed six runs, four earned, on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts. He faced 24 batters and threw 95 pitches – 60 for strikes. Junior P Zachary Malone (Hallsville, Texas) relieved Hardy and picked up the win to improve to 3-0 on the season as he worked three innings and allowed three runs, all earned, and three hits with one BB. He faced 12 batters and threw 36 pitches (18 strikes). Sophomore RHP Jacob Broussard (Houston, Texas) was Centenary's third and final pitcher of the game as he went 1.2 innings and allowed no runs on one hit with a BB and three K's. He faced seven batters and threw 53 pitches – 36 for strikes.

Southwestern starter Stephen Rutherford (2-2) took the loss as he allowed six runs, four earned, and seven hits in just three innings with no BB or K's. He faced 18 batters, hitting one, and threw 46 pitches – 33 for strikes. Ryan Corbett and Silas Jones combined to pitch the final five innings as Corbett allowed six runs (four earned) and seven hits with a BB in his three innings of work and Jones pitched the final two innings and had one BB and one K but did not allow a run or a hit.

Sophomore CF Collin Pitts (Lufkin, Texas) tied his single-game career high with four hits to lead the Centenary offense and four others had two hits apiece - freshman 1B Alex Miller (Cypress, Texas), sophomore 3B Clay Menard (Berwick, La.), freshman 2B Miles Keith (Lindale, Texas), and senior RF Austyn Benoit (Welsh, La.).

Pitts tripled, drove in a pair and scored a run, Miller doubled, had an RBI and scored a run and Menard had an RBI, walked once, and scored two runs. Keith had an RBI, scored two runs and doubled once and Benoit doubled once, stole a base, and drove in two runs.

Sophomore LF Carson Livesay (Lafayette, La.) went 1-3 with a double, two RBI, three runs scored, and a walk and senior SS Jobee Boone (Opelousas, La.) was 0-5 but scored a run, stole a base, and walked once. Freshman DH Gage Morris (Livingston, Texas) was 1-2 with an RBI and a run scored.

Southwestern DH Owen Stevenson had a four-hit game of his own as he finished 4-5 with a double, two RBI, and two runs scored and C James Vaquero went 3-5 with a double, three RBI, and a run scored. SS Ben Feuer finished 2-3 with an RBI, a BB, and a run scored. 2B Tres Organ was 0-4 but had two RBI and walked once, LF Christian Melillo was 0-4 but scored a run and drew a walk, 1B Alexander Cannata went 1-4 with two runs scored, a BB, and an RBI and RF Cale Cochran went 1-3 with a run scored and a BB.

Vaquero doubled home Melillo in the top of the first for a 1-0 lead but Benoit's double in the bottom half scored Livesay to tie the game. Boone followed with an RBI groundout to being home Menard and give the Diamond Gents a 2-1 lead. Feuer's infield single in the second tied the game at 2-2, but an RBI single by Morris, a two-run double by Livesay, and an RBI groundout by Menard made it 6-2 Centenary after two innings. Organ reached on a fielder's choice in the fourth to score Stevenson and make it 6-3 and Benoit's RBI single scored Livesay in the bottom half to make it 7-3. Cannata brought Vaquero home with an RBI single in the fifth as the Pirates cut their deficit to 7-4 and Stevenson doubled in a pair later in the inning to make it 7-6.

Pitts' RBI single in the bottom of the fifth scored Keith to make it 8-6 and the four-run sixth featured an RBI double by Miller, an RBI single from Keith, an RBI triple by Pitts and another run that scored on an error. Organ drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth and Vaquero had a two-run single to make it 12-9. Broussard, though, struck out 3B Jacob Tanner looming with runners on the corners and two out to end the inning.

Game one recap: Centenary 11 Southwestern 5

Centenary again posted double-digit runs and the Maroon and White were aided by four errors as the Pirates finished the DH with nine errors. The Diamond Gents posted nine hits, played error-free ball, drew four walks, struck out five times, and left five on base. Southwestern had 10 hits, walked five times, struck out five times, and left nine men on base.

Junior LHP Tyler Herrera (Spring, Texas) started and recorded a no-decision after going 3.1 innings and allowing two runs, both earned, and five hits with two BB, for K's, and a home run. Herrera faced 17 batters, hit one, and threw 62 pitches (35 strikes). Sophomore RHP Aidan Reichek (Bellaire, Texas) relieved Herrera and picked up the win as he worked 4.2 innings to improve to 1-1. He allowed three runs, all earned, and four hits with three BB and two K's. Reichek faced 21 batters and threw 78 pitches (44 strikes). Broussard worked the final inning and faced four batters and allowed one hit, throwing nine total pitches (seven strikes).

Carson Brown started and took the loss for the Pirates as he allowed five runs, two earned, and four hits in 4.1 innings with two BB and three K's. He faced 20 batters and threw 85 pitches – 50 for strikes. Andrew Hardin was the Pirates' second pitcher and went 2.2 innings and gave up for runs, two earned, and three hits with no BB or K and hit three batters. Hardin faced 13 batters and threw 47 pitches (32 strikes). Braden Anderson pitched the final inning and allowed two runs (both earned) and two hits with two BB and one K. He faced seven batters and threw 40 pitches – 23 for strikes.

Centenary scored a run in the bottom of the first and added three more in the third to take a 4-0 lead. Southwestern cut its deficit in half by scoring two runs in the fourth, but a five-spot by the Diamond Gents in the fifth made it 8-2. The Pirates scored one in the seventh and the Maroon and White responded with two more in the eighth before Southwestern scored the games' final two runs in the top of the ninth to make it 11-5.

Miller finished 3-5 with a double, three RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base and Pitts and Menard finished a combined 4-6 with three RBI and four runs scored and Menard also walked twice, stole two bases, and had a sacrifice fly. Livesay went 1-5 with a run scored and a stolen base, senior C Jake Gonce (Katy, Texas) went 0-3 but walked once and scored a run and Boone went 1-3 with an RBI, a run scored, and a stolen base.

Organ, Stevenson, and Vaquero finished a combined 7-12 with three RBI, three runs scored, and a walk. Organ doubled twice and Stevenson had a two-run home run. Cannata went 0-3 with a run scored and two walks and Melillo was 1-3 with an RBI, a walk, and a run scored. Tanner was 0-3 but had a sacrifice fly and walked once.

Centenary executed a double steal in the bottom of the first as Menard swiped second and Livesay stole home with Benoit at the plate for a 1-0 lead. In the third, Miller drove Menard home for a 2-0 lead, Miller scored an unearned run as Benoit reached on an error, and Benoit came home on an RBI single by Boone to make it 4-0.

Stevenson's homer made it 4-2 in the fourth, but the Diamond Gents scored four in the fifth on a Miller RBI double, a two-RBI single by Pitts, and another run that scored on an error. Melillo's RBI single in the seventh made it 8-3 but three more came across in the eighth for the Diamond Gents to make it 11-3. Vaquero had an RBI single and Tanner had a sac fly in the ninth to make it 11-5.

Centenary takes a break from SCAC play on Tuesday as the Diamond Gents will face the LeTourneau University YellowJackets (11-17) in a non-conference contest in Longview, Texas at 6 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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