Baseball Splits Doubleheader On Saturday At St. Thomas

Houston- The Centenary baseball team split a doubleheader with the University of St. Thomas Celts on Saturday in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play, winning game one by a score of 7-3 and falling 8-7 in 10 innings in game two at Constellation Field. 

The Diamond Gents (16-11, 11-3 SCAC) earned another series win following a 4-2 win in the series opener on Friday night over the Celts (12-20, 7-8 SCAC). Centenary has won 11 of 14 games, five of six, and have won four SCAC series in a row. The Diamond Gents, now 9-7 on the road this season, are 7-4 all-time against the Celts.

Centenary is tied with Trinity University atop the conference standings as the Tigers defeated Texas Lutheran on Saturday in San Antonio after falling 5-0 on Friday. The Teams will play a rubber game on Sunday. Texas Lutheran is 8-6 in league play and in fourth place in the standings, a half-game behind Southwestern University (9-6). The top four teams in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season qualify for the 2024 SCAC Tournament scheduled for May 3-5 in Cleburne, Texas.

Game one recap: Centenary 7 St. Thomas 3

The Diamond Gents scored three runs in the second and added a run in the third and then one more in the sixth to take a 5-0 lead. The Celts scored a pair in the seventh but Centenary added two more in the ninth on a two-run home run from senior RF Austyn Benoit (Welsh, La.) to extend its advantage to 7-2. Celts' C Mason Seay hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth with two outs to make it 7-3 but it was too little too late as the Maroon and White finished off the Celts for the win.

Senior P Blaine Hardy (Shreveport, La.) started and picked up the win to move to 3-0 on the season as he pitched five innings and allowed no runs on just two hits with three walks and six strikeouts. He faced 22 batters, hitting three, and threw 92 pitches – 52 for strikes.

Luke Sebesta started for the Celts and also went five innings as he was tagged with the loss to fall to 3-4. He allowed four runs, but just one earned, and seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts. He faced 27 batters and threw 94 pitches – 54 for strikes and one wild pitch. Two relievers – Corey Ross and Dominick Garza, combined to allow three runs (all earned) and two hits with three BB and no K's in three innings of work. Ross faced 10 batters and threw 33 pitches (16 strikes) and Garza faced five batters, allowed the homer to Benoit, and threw 13 pitches – eight for strikes.

Two pitchers followed Hardy for Centenary - junior P Zachary Malone (Hallsville, Texas) and sophomore RHP Jacob Broussard (Houston, Texas). Malone went 1.2 innings and allowed two runs, both earned, and three hits with a BB and a K. He faced nine batters and threw 26 pitches (16 strikes). Broussard went the final 2.1 innings and allowed one earned run and one hit with one BB and a pair of K's and allowed Seay's solo homer in the ninth and hit one batter. He faced 10 batters and threw 34 pitches – 18 for strikes.

Centenary finished with nine hits, drew six walks, struck out only twice, left eight on base, and did not commit an error. St. Thomas managed just six hits, walked five times, struck out nine times, left 11 on base, made three errors, and stole one base.

Sophomore LF Carson Livesay (Lafayette, La.) was 1-3 with two runs scored and two walks, freshman 1B Alex Miller (Cypress, Texas) went 2-5 with two RBI and a run scored, sophomore 3B Clay Menard (Berwick, La.) was 2-4 with two RBI and a walk, and Benoit was 2-5 with his two-run homer and a run scored. Senior SS Jobee Boone (Opelousas, La.) was 0-3 but walked twice, sophomore DH Matthew Herrera (Sunnyvale, Texas) was 0-3 but walked once and scored a run, sophomore CF Collin Pitts (Lufkin, Texas) went 1-4, and senior C Jake Gonce (Katy, Texas) was 0-3 but had a sacrifice fly RBI and scored a run. Keith, who also played second base, was also 1-4 with a run scored.

Seay was 2-5 with an RBI and a run scored for the Celts, 2B Alex Trinh went 1-4 with a run scored but made two errors, and DH Gabe Garner finished 1-3 with an RBI, a walk, and a run scored. LF Kyle Bearden was 0-3 with a walk, 1B Dillon McKee went 1-4 with a walk, 3B Jarod Smith was 1-3 with a walk and a stolen base, and RF Israel Fields went 0-3 with a walk and a run scored.

Menard reached on a fielder's choice in the second and Miller ripped a two-run single to make it 3-0. Gonce's sac fly in the third made it 4-0 and the Diamond Gents scored an unearned run in the sixth to make it 5-0. The Celts scored their first run on a wild pitch in the seventh and an RBI single by Garner later in the inning made it 5-2. Benoit's homer extended the Centenary lead to 7-2 in the ninth and Seay's homer in the bottom half made it 7-3 but after a walk to Garner, Broussard struck out McKee looking to end the game.

Game two recap: St. Thomas 8 Centenary 7 (10 innings)

Each team scored a run in the first inning and Centenary scored once in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead. The Celts, however, struck for three in the bottom of the third and added one more in the fourth to make it 5-2. A scoreless fifth inning followed and then each team scored twice in the sixth to make it 7-4.

The Diamond Gents rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth to tied the game at 7-7 but the Celts walked it off in the bottom of the 10^th to salvage the third and final game of the series and avoid the sweep.

Centenary pounded five St. Thomas pitchers for 14 hits and drew five walks while stealing three bases. The Celts had 12 hits and drew four walks. Centenary struck out five times, left 10 on base, and made two errors while St. Thomas struck out seven times, also left 10 on base and made two errors.

Broussard (0-5) suffered the loss for Centenary as he pitched the entered the game in the ninth and struck out RF Timothy Mansell with the bases loaded to send the game into extra innings. But, he allowed a leadoff single to 3B Jarod Smith to open the 10^th and after SS Armando Rocha's fielder's choice forced Smith at second, CF Israel Fields singled to put runners at first and second with one out. 2B Alex Trinh then hit a walk-off single to score Rocha for the win.

Broussard worked an inning and allowed one earned run and three hits with one BB and two K's. He faced eight batters and threw 35 pitches – 16 for strikes. Junior LHP Tyler Herrera (Spring, Texas) started on the mound and went 3.1 innings and allowed five runs, four earned, and four hits with three BB and no K's. He faced 19 batters and threw 55 pitches – 33 for strikes. Sophomore RHP Aidan Reichek (Bellaire, Texas) followed Herrera in relief and pitched well as he went five innings and allowed just two runs, both earned, and five hits with no BB and five K's. He faced 19 batters and threw 67 pitches – 45 for strikes.

Kameron Craig, the fifth and final pitcher of the game for the Celts, picked up the win on the mound to improve to 2-0 as he worked two innings and allowed three runs, all earned, and four hits with one BB and one K. He faced 11 batters and threw 41 pitches – 24 for strikes. Kadin Munson started and went 5.1 innings and allowed four runs, three earned, and seven hits with two BB and three K's. He faced 25 batters, hit one, and threw 89 pitches – 47 for strikes. Three others Celts relievers combined to work 2.2 innings and allow no runs on three hits with two BB and one K.

Boone finished 3-5 with three RBI and a stolen base, Benoit was 2-5 with a run scored, Miller finished 2-4 with two runs scored and walked twice, Menard was 1-4 with an RBI, a run scored, a walk, and a stolen base, and Pitts was 2-5 with two runs scored. Freshman DH Walker Wicklund (Shreveport, La.) went 2-2 with an RBI and a stolen base. Gonce finished 1-4 with a BB and sophomore Lenny Forth (Flower Mound, Texas) was 1-1 with a pinch-hit single.

Smith and Trinh each had three hits for the Celts and Bearden, Seay, and Fields each had two. St. Thomas finished with four doubles – with Seay having two.

Boone's RBI single in the first scored Miller and an RBI groundout in the bottom half by Garner scored Bearden to tie the game. Freshman 2B Miles Keith (Lindale, Texas) delivered a sacrifice fly in the second to score Pitts and put the Diamond Gents up 2-1, but a Seay RBI double and a two-run single by Smith in the third gave the Celts a 4-2 lead. Seay doubled home Trinh in the fourth to make it 5-2.

Forth scored on a passed ball and Menard had an RBI single in the sixth as Centenary cut its deficit to 5-4. Fields scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 6-4 game and later in the inning a Bearden RBI single made it 7-4 Celts.

Boone had a two-run double in the ninth to bring Centenary within a run at 7-6 and Wicklund tied the game at 7-7 with an RBI single. The Diamond Gents had runners at the corners with no outs and then Wicklund stole second and it appeared Centenary would surely take the lead with the game tied and two runners in scoring position. Craig, however, locked in and retired Pitts, Gonce, and Keith in order to end the threat and keep the game tied.

Centenary takes a break from conference play on Tuesday as the Maroon and White face LeTourneau University in a DH set for 3 p.m. at Shehee Stadium.

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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