Ladies Softball Head Coach Mark Suire Reaches Career Milestone

Shreveport - Centenary head softball coach Mark Suire recorded his 100th career victory with the Ladies on Sunday, a victory that earned his program a berth in the championship round of the 2021 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship in Kerrville, Texas.

Suire, who just completed his sixth season, led the Ladies to an 18-20 record this season and an 8-11 mark in SCAC play. Centenary, the No. 5 seed in the championship, saw its season come to and end on Monday with a 2-1 loss to the No. 1 seed Texas Lutheran Bulldogs in the championship round. The Ladies were playing in the championship round for the first time in program history and gave the Bulldogs, the top-ranked team in division III in the country, all they could handle as the Maroon and White scored first in the second to lead 1-0 and held that lead until a solo home run in the sixth by TLU tied the game 1-1. The Bulldogs then loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and won it with a walk-off RBI single. 

Centenary won a pair of games on Sunday to reach the championship round, the second victory giving head coach Suire his 100th career win, as the Maroon and White were facing elimination in both games after the tournament transitioned into a modified single elimination format on Sunday following two days of inclement weather.

The Ladies defeated No. 3 seed Trinity by a score of 8-3 in its first game of the day to eliminate the Tigers. The Ladies then recorded a drama-filled 2-1 win in eight innings over No. 2 seed and host Schreiner to clinch a berth in Monday's championship round. Centenary opened the tournament on Friday with a 10-4 win over No. 4 seed Southwestern in the first round. 

The Ladies entered the weekend on a six-game losing streak but caught fire in the tournament and reached the championship round for the first time in program history. Suire is no stranger to success in the event during his Ladies' tenure though, finishing third three times (2016, 2018, and 2019). Centenary tied its program record for wins in the championship as the Maroon and White also won three games each time they earned third-place finishes.

Suire took over a program prior to the 2016 season that had not won double-digit games since 2010 and finished above .500 since 2009.  The Ladies were picked to finish seventh in the SCAC standings and miss the conference tournament but the Maroon and White defied the odds and finished fifth with a 20-20 record. Five different Ladies received All-Conference accolades, including First Team Utility Player Haley Miller, marking the first time in three seasons that the Ladies had a First Team all-conference selection.

The Ladies qualified for the SCAC Tournament and defeated Southwestern in their opening game for their first SCAC Tournament win in program history. Centenary ended up going 3-2 to finish third in the event and clinched the program's first winning season in seven seasons.

Centenary's .312 batting average in 2016 is the best school history in the division III era for a single season. The Ladies' ERA dropped nearly five points, from 8.66 in 2015 to 3.69 in 2016. The 23 wins in Suire's first season was a 16-win improvement from 2015, the third-best increase in total wins in NCAA Division III in 2016. Centenary finished 6-6 and 2-1 in SCAC play in 2020, a season cut short due to COVID-19. 

Read Suire's complete bio here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/sball/coaches/suire_mark?view=bio

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