Seguin, Texas - The Centenary baseball team fell 11-2 to the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon in the rubber game of a three-game Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series at Katt-Isbel Field.
The Diamond Gents (18-14, 12-5 SCAC) lost a conference series for the first time this season after splitting a doubleheader on Friday, losing game one by a score of 9-2 and answering back with a 10-8 win in game two. The Bulldogs improved to 21-14 and 10-8 in league play with the win.
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. The Diamond Gents are 10-9 on the road this season and 6-5 in road SCAC contests.
The Diamond Gents finished with seven hits, drew six walks, struck out three times, left 13 on base, and made three errors while the Bulldogs had 15 hits, three walks, eight strikeouts, 11 left on base, and committed two errors. Centenary took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first but TLU answered with four runs in the bottom of the second to take a 4-1 lead.
The Bulldogs then scored two more in the third and two in the fifth to extend their lead to 8-2. Centenary scored one in the eighth but TLU scored three more in the bottom half to make it 11-2.
Senior C Jake Gonce (Katy, Texas) went 2-4, freshman 2B Braeden Morse (Pearland, Texas) was 1-3 with an RBI and a walk, sophomore LF Carson Livesay (Lafayette, La.) was 0-4 but scored a run and drew a walk, sophomore 3B Clay Menard (Berwick, La.) finished 1-4 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base, and freshman 1B Alex Miller (Cypress, Texas) went 1-5 with an RBI. Senior RF Austyn Benoit (Welsh, La.) was 1-3 with a walk and a stolen base and freshman DH Walker Wicklund (Shreveport, La.) 1-4 with a walk and a run scored.
Junior LHP Tyler Herrera (Spring, Texas) started on the mound for Centenary and was charged with the loss to fall to 2-2. He went four innings and allowed six runs, five earned, and seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts. He faced 22 batters and threw 99 pitches – 59 for strikes. Four relievers followed Herrera and covered the final four innings and combined to give up five runs, four earned, and eight hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
Johnny Garza (4-2) went the distance for the Bulldogs and in his nine innings of work he allowed just two earned runs and seven hits with six walks and three K's. He faced 42 batters, hitting one, and threw 153 pitches – 83 for strikes. Garza worked himself out of trouble all game long as the Diamond Gents stranded two in the first, left the bases loaded in the second, two in the fourth, two more in the fifth, and two in the ninth.
TLU was led by a 4-5 effort from LF Asher Bonnell as he drove in three runs and scored one. SS Chase Bourgeois was 3-4 with two RBI and three runs scored, and 2B Aric Vasquez was 2-6 with three RBI. 3B Xavier Arias was 1-4 with a walk and a run scored, DH Adam Peavy was 1-3 with a run scored. C Chance Greene was 1-2 with an RBI and a run, 1B Tyler Post finished 1-4 with two runs and a walk, and RF Carson Draehn was 1-5 with two runs scored. The Bulldogs finished with five extra-base hits – three doubles and a pair of triples.
Miller's RBI groundout in the first scored Livesay made it 1-0 but Centenary missed a chance to add on as the Maroon and White left the bases loaded in the second. Greene's infield RBI single tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second and Vasquez delivered a bases-loaded triple to score three and make it 4-1. Herrera got a groundout and a strikeout to escape further damage and end the inning. Bourgeois and Bonnell drove in runs in the third and each player struck again in the fifth to make it 8-1.
Morse reached on a fielder's choice in the eighth to score Wicklund and make it 8-2. Dylan Swanson pinch hit for Bourgeois in the eighth and had an RBI single to make it 9-2 and Bonnell drove in another run and a second run scored on an error to cap the scoring.
The Diamond Gents trail league leader Trinity University (25-9, 12-4 SCAC) by one-half game and are a half-game up on Southwestern University (22-14, 12-6 SCAC) while the Bulldogs are three games behind Centenary. Centenary and Trinity will finish the regular season against each other in Shreveport next weekend. The Diamond Gents will honor their 2024 senior class following the second game of a DH on Saturday, April 27.
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.
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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