Richardson, Texas - The Centenary baseball team will face the University of Texas at Dallas Comets in its final non-conference game of the regular season on Tuesday afternoon with first pitch set for 3 p.m. at UTD Baseball Field.
Live stats and live video are available for the games at the links below:
Stats: https://utdcomets.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Video: https://utdcomets.com/sports/2023/8/29/live-video.aspx
The Diamond Gents (18-14) and Comets (24-12) will play each other for the fourth time this season with UT-Dallas winning the first three. Centenary fell 5-3 in 11 innings in its home opener on March 5 in Shreveport and then lost a pair of games to the Comets in San Antonio on March 8-9 by scores of 8-7 and 16-12.
Centenary, 10-9 on the road this season, dropped two of three games in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series to the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs this past weekend in Seguin, Texas. The Comets are 11-3 at home this season and were swept by East Texas Baptist University over the weekend in conference play.
The Diamond Gents enter Tuesday's action as one of the nation's top offensive teams as they rank 51st in the country in batting average (.318) and boast a .406 on-base percentage and slug .426 with 15 home runs. Centenary has scored 229 runs, averaging 7.2 runs per game, and has 481 total baes, 84 extra-base hits, 122 walks, 59 HBP, and 61 stolen bases. The Diamond Gents have scored 10+ runs in a game 12 times this season and have posted at least 10 hits in a game in 22 of 32 games this season. Centenary has a 5.34 ERA with a pair of complete games and three saves.
Eight Centenary players are hitting .300 or better this season led by senior SS Jobee Boone (Opelousas, La.) who is fifth in the conference with a .379 batting average and is followed closely by freshman 1B Alex Miller (Cypress, Texas) at .371 (tied for seventh) and has 46 hits, 36 RBI (second in the conference), a team-high five homers, seven doubles, a triple, and 33 runs scored. Miller had another big week at the plate for the Diamond Gents in a home doubleheader against LeTourneau followed by a road series at TLU as he hit .316 (6-19) with a home run, two doubles, seven RBI, four walks, and six runs scored. He did not strike out in the five games last week, had an OBP of .417 and slugged .579.
Sophomore LF Carson Livesay (Lafayette, La.) is the league leader in runs scored (39) and is hitting .361 with a team-high 48 hits, 11 doubles, three home runs, 22 RBI, and a team-high 17 stolen bases. Livesay finished .429 (9-21) at the plate last week for the Diamond Gents with two RBI, five runs scored, two doubles, five runs scored, five walks, and stole one base. He finished with a .538 OBP and slugged .524 while striking out just twice in 21 at-bats. He recorded a pair of multi-hit games highlighted by a single-game career-high five in a 5-6 performance in a 10-8 win at Texas Lutheran on Friday.
Sophomore 3B Clay Menard (Berwick, La.) is tied for sixth in runs scored (34) and is batting .324 with 36 hits, 24 RBI, four doubles, a triple, and 11 stolen bases. Sophomore CF Collin Pitts (Lufkin, Texas) is hitting .344 with 42 hits, 14 runs scored, 22 RBI, six doubles, three triples, and a homer.
Senior RF Austyn Benoit (Welsh, La.) is hitting .325 with 41 hits, 29 RBI, 22 runs scored, 14 doubles, six stolen bases, three homers, and a triple. Senior C Jake Gonce (Katy, Texas) is batting .06 with 34 hits, 21 runs scored, 15 RBI, four stolen bases, a homer, and three doubles. Freshman DH Walker Wicklund (Shreveport, La.) is hitting .370 with 20 hits, eight runs scored, three doubles, a homer, 11 RBI, and three stolen bases. Wicklund finished last week a sizzling .600 (9-15) at the plate with three RBI, two doubles, three runs scored, and drew three walks. The rookie did not strike out in his 15 at-bats that covered five games. He finished with an OBP of .667 and slugged .773 as he posted three multi-hit games highlighted by a season-best four against Texas Lutheran on Friday.
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 (8-2) is 11th nationally in ERA (1.48) with a pair of complete games in 11 appearances and nine games started. In 67.0 IP, Myers has allowed just 14 runs (11 earned) and 50 hits with 22 walks and 69 strikeouts. Myers, tied for second in the country in wins, has had an ERA under 1.00 for the majority of the season. He ranked second in the conference in ERA, tied for second in IP and third in K's.
A Peek at the Comets:
UT-Dallas is hitting .308 as a team with 28 home runs. The Comets have a 4.42 ERA with six complete games and four saves.
Zach Landy is the team leader in both batting average (.379) and hits (50), Dylan Bivins leads in RBI (40) and Luke Finn leads the way in home runs (nine).
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 conference leader Trinity University by 2.5 games as the Tigers, the preseason favorite, are 14-4 in league play and 27-9 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 this weekend. 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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