Baseball Splits DH As Diaz Earns Milestone Win

Seguin, Texas - The Centenary baseball team split a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader with the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs on Friday, falling in game one by a score of 9-2 and rebounding with a 10-8 win in game two at Katt-Isbel Field.

The Diamond Gents (18-13, 12-4 SCAC) go for the series win on Saturday at 11 a.m. against the Bulldogs (20-14, 9-8 SCAC). Centenary head coach Mike Diaz moved into third-place all-time in conference history with 144 SCAC regular-season wins with the game two win, passing Jim Mallon of Southwestern.

Diaz, now in his 14^th season at the helm, became the all-time winningest coach in program history last season with his 292nd win on April 16, 2023 at home versus Schreiner University and is now 313-223-1, having passed former HC Ed McCann (1999-2010) for the all-time wins mark.

Game one recap: Texas Lutheran 9 Centenary 2

The Diamond Gents took a 2-0 lead, scoring single runs in the second and fourth innings, but the Bulldogs scored nine-straight games to cruise to the win in game one of the DH.

Sophomore LHP Cody Myers (Friendswood, Texas) started for Centenary and lost for just the second time this season as he allowed five runs, all earned, and seven hits in six innings of work with two walks and nine strikeouts. He allowed one home run, facing 28 batters and throwing 119 pitches (76 strikes).

Brendan Beard (6-0) started for TLU and remained undefeated on the season as he went seven innings and allowed two runs, both earned, and eight hits with three BB and five K's. Diego Vinton pitched the final two innings and blanked Centenary on two hits with one BB and one K. Beard faced 29 batters and threw 113 pitches (71 strikes) while Vinton faced nine batters and threw 33 pitches – 21 for strikes.

Three Centenary relievers followed Myers to cover the last two innings as sophomore RHP Jacob Broussard (Houston, Texas) went an inning and allowed two runs, both earned, on three hits. He faced five batters and threw 18 pitches – 13 strikes. Sophomore P Jordan Hodges (Longview, Texas) relieved Broussard and faced three batters, hitting one and throwing one wild pitch. He allowed one hit and two runs, both earned with one BB. He threw 12 pitches – four strikes. Freshman P Logan Schmidt (Pearland, Texas) was the final Diamond Gents' pitcher as he pitched the eighth inning and faced three batters with one K as he threw nine pitches (seven strikes).

Centenary finished with 10 hits, walked four times, struck out six times, left nine on base, and made three errors. TLU had 11 hits, three walks, struck out 10 times, left six on base, and did not commit an error. The Diamond Gents had one extra-base hit, a double, one sacrifice and grounded into one double play while being caught stealing once without a stolen base. The Bulldogs stole two bases in three attempts and had a pair of extra-base hits – a double and a homer.

Senior SS Jobee Boone (Opelousas, La.) led the Diamond Gents with three hits as he went 3-4 with a run scored. Sophomore CF Collin Pitts (Lufkin, Texas) and freshman DH Walker Wicklund (Shreveport, La.) went a combined 4-7 with an RBI, a BB, and a run scored and sophomore LF Carson Livesay (Lafayette, La.) went 1-3 with two BB. Freshman 1B Alex Miller (Cypress, Texas) went 1-4, sophomore 3B Clay Menard (Berwick, La.) was 0-4 but walked once, and freshman Trace Shirley (Cleveland, Texas) had a pinch-hit single in the ninth as he recorded his first hit of the season.

Senior C Jake Gonce (Katy, Texas) grounded into a double play in the second inning to score Boone and give Centenary an early 1-0 lead and an RBI single by Pitts with two outs in the fourth scored Wicklund, who had doubled, as the Diamond Gents took a 2-0 lead.

The Bulldogs scored in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run by DH Adam Peavy and tied it in the sixth as Peavy reached on an error and 3B Xavier Arias, who doubled to lead off the inning, came around to score and make it 2-2. TLU then put he game away with four runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth to take a 9-2 lead.  

LF Mason Goudeau finished 3-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base and Arias and CF Hayden Kesselring combined to go 4-9 with two RBI and two runs scored. 2B Aric Vasquez finished 1-5 with three RBI and a run and Peavy, 1B Tyler Post and SS Chance Bourgeois finished a combined 3-10 with three runs scored, an RBI, and two BB.

Game two recap: Centenary 10 Texas Lutheran 8

The Diamond Gents earned a DH split by scoring 10 runs and pounding out 18 hits – their second-most in a game this season. Centenary walked three times, struck out five times, left 12 on base, and made one error. The Bulldogs had 14 hits, also walked three times with five strikeouts, left 10 on base and also made an error.

Senior P Blaine Hardy (Shreveport, La.) started on the mound for Centenary and received a no-decision as he went 4.2 innings and allowed three runs, both earned, and five hits with one BB and three K's. He faced 19 batters, hitting two, and threw95 pitches – 58 for strikes. Sophomore RHP Aidan Reichek (Bellaire, Texas) picked up the win as he went 3.1 innings and allowed four runs, both earned, and seven hits to improve to 2-1. He walked one and struck out a pair as he faced 20 batters, hitting two, and threw 42 pitches – 24 for strikes. Broussard, making his second appearance of the day, pitched the final inning and allowed one earned run and two hits with one BB. He faced six batters and threw 24 pitches (13 strikes).

JT Taylor (4-3) started for TLU and suffered the loss as he allowed eight runs, seven earned, and 13 hits in six innings of work. He walked one and had three K's as he faced 32 batters – hitting one and throwing one wild pitch. He threw 101 pitches – 58 for strikes. Nolan McInvale relieved him and worked three innings, allowing two runs, both earned, and five hits with two BB and two K's. He faced 17 batters and threw 62 pitches (39 strikes).

Livesay had a career-high five hits which is tied for the most in a game in the division III era (2012-present) in program history. He was 5-6 with two RBI and two runs scored. Wicklund had a season-high four hits as he finished 4-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Senior RF Austyn Benoit (Welsh, La.) went 3-4 with two doubles and a run scored, and Menard was 3-5 with a double, a triple, an RBI, a walk, and two runs scored. Miller was 2-5 with a double, two RBI, and a run scored and Gonce was 1-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Boone went 0-4 but scored two runs and drew a walk, Pitts was 0-4 with a sacrifice fly RBI and freshman 2B Braeden Morse (Pearland, Texas) was 0-4 with a walk.

Kesselring was 3-4 with a run scored, Bourgeois went 3-4 with two RBI, a walk, and a run scored and Peavy and RF Carson Draehn finished a combined 4-9 with two RBI and four runs scored. Vasquez was 1-5 with three RBI, Arias finished 1-4 with a BB, Post was 0-3 with a run scored and a BB and Goudeau and LF Asher Bonnell combined went 2-5 with an RBI.

Centenary took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Miller's sac fly brought Menard home and Pitts' sac fly in the fourth scored Boone and made it 2-0. Taylor's errant throw on a failed pickoff allowed Livesay to score in the fifth to make it 3-0 and RBI singles by Miller and Wicklund later in the inning made it 5-0.

Vasquez' bases-loaded double in the fifth scored three and made it 5-3 but Menard doubled home Livesay in the sixth to extend the Diamond Gents' lead to 6-3. Bourgeois drove in a pair in the sixth on a single to cut the Bulldogs' deficit to 6-5 but Centenary responded with three runs in the seventh as Benoit scored on a passed ball, Gonce had a sac fly and Livesay had an RBI single. Livesay had another RBI single in the ninth to make it 10-5 but the Diamond Gents left the bases loaded.

TLU made it interesting in the bottom of the ninth, scoring three runs on four hits and had the bases loaded with one out but Broussard got Bulldogs pinch-hitter Garrett Helpenstill to ground into a game-ending double play. Draehn had a two-run double and Bonnell drove in a run with a single. Helpenstill batted for C Chance Greene and grounded to Morse at second who stepped on the bag and fired to Miller at first to seal the win.