Baseball On Road This Weekend To Face Celts

Houston- The Centenary baseball team will face the University of St. Thomas Celts in a three-game Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend series beginning with a single game on Friday at 6 p.m. at Constellation Field.

Live stats and live video are available for all three games at the links below:

Stats: https://ustcelts.com/sports/bsb/2023-24/boxscores/20240412_gem8.xml

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCR2v16Faws

The Diamond Gents (14-10, 9-2 SCAC) completed a three-game series sweep over the Southwestern University Pirates last weekend at home and enter Friday's play in second place in the conference standings, one-half game behind leader Trinity University (22-7, 10-2 SCAC).

The Celts (11-18, 6-6 SCAC) are in a fourth-place tie with Southwestern in the league standings. St. Thomas swept the University of Dallas on the road last weekend to snap a six-game losing streak. The Celts are just 1-7 at home this season while the Diamond Gents are 7-6 on the road.

The Diamond Gents and Celts split a pair of games in Shreveport last season with the third game of the series rained out. Centenary has won five of eight all-time meetings but have lost two of the three previous games played in Houston.

Centenary was picked to finish second in the conference this season in the preseason poll released on Jan. 31 based on balloting from the league's head coaches. The Diamond Gents secured the final first-place vote and finished with 51 total points and it is the highest predicted finish for Centenary since the Maroon and White were picked to win the title prior to the 2018 campaign. St. Thomas was picked to finish fifth.

The Diamond Gents enter the weekend as the SCAC's top hitting club with a .323 team batting average and boast a .405 on-base percentage and are slugging .433 as they also lead the league in both categories. The Diamond Gents' batting average is ranked 49th in the nation. Centenary also leads the conference in total hits with 278 which is tied for 53^rd in the nation.

The Diamond Gents are averaging 7.5 runs per game, have scored 180 total runs, and have hit 12 home runs. They have 64 extra-base hits, 53 stolen bases, and have posted at least 10 hits in a game in 18 of 24 games this season and in six of their last eight games. Centenary is third in total bases, second in triples, second in doubles, third in RBI, and sixth in home runs.

The Diamond Gents have scored 10+ runs in a game 10 times this season. Centenary has stolen multiple bases in a game 16 times and stole a season-high five last Saturday against the Pirates as well as against Trinity on March 9. The Diamond Gents have a team ERA of 5.06 and have thrown two complete games.

Sophomore CF Collin Pitts (Lufkin, Texas) was named the SCAC Hitter of the Week on Monday after he had a monster weekend at the plate for the Diamond Gents as he hit .615 (8-13) with seven RBI and scored three runs. He only struck out one time and had an OBP of .615 while slugging .846. He recorded multi-hit games in all three contests of the series and matched his season and career-high single-game record of four hits as he was 4-5 with two RBI and a run scored in the win in game one of a DH on Saturday.

Pitts is one of seven regular starters hitting .300 or better this season as he is batting .354 with a .382 OBP and is slugging .510. Pitts has 34 hits (fourth on team) with 18 RBI (sixth on team), a team-high three triples, six doubles (third on team) along with 11 runs scored, a home run, and one stolen base.

Senior SS Jobee Boone (Opelousas, La.) is the conference's third-leading hitter and the top hitter for Centenary as he boasts a .394 average with a .450 OBP and a .475 slugging percentage. Boone, named the SCAC Hitter of the Week on April 1, has a team-high 39 hits with 20 RBI (tied for third on team) with 21 runs (fourth on team), 21 runs scored, three doubles, a triple, and a home run. Boone has only struck out seven times in 99 at-bats compared to seven walks and has eight stolen bases in 11 attempts.

Sophomore LHP Cody Myers (Friendswood, Texas) has established himself as the team's ace and one of the league's and country's top pitchers. Myers (7-1) continued his superb season last Friday in the series opener against Southwestern as he tossed his second-straight complete game after doing so in a 7-0 win over Schreiner University on March 28 in Kerrville, Texas.

The left-hander allowed 10 hits against the Pirates last Friday but just one earned run and three walks with 10 strikeouts. He faced 37 batters and threw 130 pitches – 87 for strikes. He is currently third in the country with an 0.85 ERA and has only allowed three earned runs over his last 39.1 IP with 37 K's. Myers, who was named the SCAC Pitcher of the Week in consecutive weeks (March 25 and April 1), has made nine appearances and seven starts and has allowed just five earned runs and 37 hits in 53.2 IP with 47 K's and only 16 BB.

Sophomore LF Carson Livesay (Lafayette, La.) is hitting .376 with an OBP of 471 and is slugging .574. He has a team-high 101 at-bats and is tied for the team lead with Miller in homers (three), first in runs scored (32) and second in hits (38) and doubles (nine) with 20 RBI, a triple, 14 walks, and just 23 strikeouts. He leads the team in stolen bases (14) in 17 attempts. He has 13 multi-hit performances with a four-hit game and four 3-hit games.

Freshman 1B Alex Miller (Cypress, Texas) is hitting .376 (fifth in conference) and is tied for the team in RBI with 25 and third in hits (35), and is tied for the team lead in home runs with three. The rookie has a .449 OBP and is slugging .548 with 23 runs scored, five doubles, a triple, and five stolen bases. Miller has eight walks and just seven strikeouts in 93 at-bats and has posted 13 multi-hit games and done so in six of seven contests.

Miller, named SCAC Hitter of the Week on Feb. 27, was also named the Div. III Rookie of The Month by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) on Feb. 28 after he batted .462 (12-for-26) with nine runs, eight RBI, five walks, three homers, and two doubles in the month of February. He posted four multi-hit games over the seven he played in, headlined by a 3-for-5 day with two doubles, a run scored, and RBI in a 13-3 win at Occidental on Feb. 24. Miller went 5-for-13 with four runs, four RBI, and two homers in the Gents' three-game sweep of Occidental.

Senior RF Austyn Benoit (Welsh, La.) is hitting .313 (.389 OBP/.510 slugging) and shares the team lead in RBI (25) with Miller. He has 30 hits (fifth on team), 16 runs scored, a team-leading 11 doubles, two home runs, and a triple. Senior C Jake Gonce (Katy, Texas) is batting .337 with 28 hits, 19 runs scored, 12 RBI, a homer, and a double, sophomore 3B Clay Menard (Berwick, La.) is batting .354 (.491 OBP/.378 slugging) with 29 hits, 27 runs, 21 RBI, two doubles, and a team-high 22 walks in 82 at-bats with just nine strikeouts and seven nine bases.

Sophomore DH Lenny Forth (Flower Mound, Texas) is hitting .256 (.360 OBP/.279 slugging) with 11 hits, five RBI, five runs scored, three walks, and a double. Freshman DH Walker Wicklund (Shreveport, La.) is hitting .243 (.279 OBP/.351 slugging) in 17 games and 37 at-bats with nine hits, seven RBI, five runs scored, a homer, and a double. Freshman Miles Keith (Lindale, Texas) is hitting .257 (.366 OBP/.371 slugging) with nine hits, nine runs scored, four doubles, two RBI, three walks, and one stolen base.

Junior P Zachary Malone (Hallsville, Texas) has been a steady arm out of the bullpen this season as he is 3-0 with a 4.57 ERA in 11 appearances and one start. In 21.2 IP he has struck out nine. Junior LHP Tyler Herrera (Spring, Texas) has made eight appearances (all starts) and is 1-1 with a 5.91 ERA. In 35.0 IP, he has struck out 29 batters. Senior P Blaine Hardy (Shreveport, La.) is 2-0 with a 5.82 ERA in nine appearances and six starts with 26 K's in 34.0 IP. Sophomore RHP Jacob Broussard (Houston, Texas) is 0-4 with a 4.15 ERA but has the Diamond Gents' only two saves. He has 21 K's in 17.1 IP.

A PEEK AT THE CELTS:

St. Thomas is hitting just .230 as a team with a .330 OBP and slugging .338. The Celts have hit 19 home runs and average 4.8 runs per game. The St. Thomas pitching staff has a 4.54 ERA and has thrown one complete game.

Hitters to Watch: Jr. Dillon McKee and senior Mason Seay are tied for the team lead in RBI (24) and have combined to hit 10 of the Celt's 19 homers.

Pitcher to Watch: Senior Landon Murray is 3-5 in nine appearances, all starts, and has a team-low 2.18 ERA. He has thrown the Celt's only complete game and has struck out 40 in 53.2 IP.

*Diaz Record Watch: Centenary head coach Mike Diaz, now in his 14^th season, needs just three more SCAC regular-season wins to move into third-place all-time in SCAC history in SCAC regular-season wins, this he could attain the record this weekend.

Diaz became the all-time winningest coach in program history last season with his 292^nd win on April 16, 2023 at home versus Schreiner University and is now 310-221-1, having passed former HC Ed McCann (1999-2010) for the all-time wins mark.

Looking Ahead:

The 2024 SCAC Baseball Tournament is scheduled for May 3-5 in Cleburne, Texas. Centenary 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. The top four teams in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season qualify for the 2024 SCAC Tournament.

Centenary trails Trinity University by a half-game as the Tigers, the preseason favorite, are 10-2 in league play and 22-7 overall. The Diamond Gents and Tigers met on March 9 in San Antonio with Trinity recording a 13-4 win in what was considered a non-conference contest despite the two being league foes.

Centenary and Trinity will finish the regular season against each other in Shreveport April 26-27. The Diamond Gents will honor their 2024 senior class following the second game of a DH on Saturday, April 27.

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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