Jackson, Miss. – The Centenary baseball team will participate in the Belhaven University Tournament this weekend at Smith-Wills Stadium on the Belhaven campus.
The Gents (2-0) defeated the East Texas Baptist University Tigers last Friday at home, following up a season-opening 6-1 home win over Louisiana College on Feb. 9. Centenary won for the 11th win in their last 15 games dating back to last season and are now 5-1 in their last six home games and will hit the road for the first time this season.
Centenary will face the host Blazers at 7 p.m. on Saturday and then play a pair of games on Sunday, as the Gents face the Edgewood College Eagles at 11 a.m. and the Huntingdon College Hawks at 3 p.m. Centenary defeated Edgewood twice last season in Jackson in the Millsaps Invitational. The Eagles and Hawks will be opening their seasons this weekend while Belhaven is 2-1 after taking a home series over Piedmont College last weekend. The Gents and Blazers meet for the first time since the teams split a pair of games during the 2019 season.
The Gents' pitching has been superb through the season's first two games, allowing just one earned run in 18 innings with only three walks and 14 strikeouts. The offense has been equally as impressive, collecting 25 hits and 13 runs. The Gents have now collected at least 10 hits in a game in eleven of their last 15 games dating back to last season.
Centenary senior left-hander Connor Lee (Sugarland, Texas) was named the SCAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week on Monday while fellow senior first baseman Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas) was named the SCAC Baseball Hitter of the Week as the Gents swept the conference's top individual awards for the second-straight year in the month of February.
Lee pitched in both of the Gents' games last week and in seven innings pitched he did not allow an earned run with five strikeouts and no walks, in leading Centenary to a pair of non-conference wins over Louisiana College (6-1) and ETBU (7-4). Lee started last Tuesday's season opener, pitching an inning and recording a strikeout and then started Friday's game against ETBU as he was solid, going six innings and needing just 56 total pitches, throwing 37 for strikes. He allowed three runs, none earned, with no walks and four strikeouts.
Ludwick hit .429 overall in last week's wins to open the season. Ludwick went 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored in Tuesday's game and then went 1-3 with three RBI and a pair of walks on Friday. He delivered a clutch two-out single in the bottom of the seventh on Friday with the Gents clinging to a one-run lead to help put the game away. In total, he went 3-7 at the plate with four RBI, a run scored and a pair of walks in the two wins.
Junior catcher Ben Bridges (Beckville, Texas) Bridges had a career-high four hits to lead the Gents' offense, going 4-5 with an RBI and a run scored in Friday's win over ETBU. Bridges' previous career-high for hits in a game was three set last season in a 10-7 win over La Verne on March 1, 2020, and he now has five multi-hit games in his career.
Senior third baseman Chris Haggard (Lake Charles, La.), fellow senior left fielder Luke Royle (Dodge City, Kan.), and junior shortstop Brady Robinson (Jacksonville, Texas) each collected two hits apiece in Friday's win and Robinson added three runs scored, an RBI, and a walk. Senior right fielder Cody Crowder (Shepherd, Texas) walked three times as the Gents drew eight walks in the game against five ETBU pitchers. Sophomore right-hander Parker Primeaux (Lake Charles, La.) earned the save as he pitched the final four innings and was solid in relief. He allowed just four hits and one unearned run with no walks and four strikeouts.
The full weekend schedule for the weekend is below:
Saturday, Feb. 20:
11 a.m. Edgewood vs. Belhaven
3 p.m. Edgewood vs. Huntingdon
7 p.m. Centenary vs. Belhaven
Sunday, Feb. 21:
11 a.m. Centenary vs. Edgewood
3 p.m. Huntingdon vs. Centenary
7 p.m. Huntingdon vs. Belhaven
Live stats and video will be available for Centenary's three games this weekend at the following link: https://blazers.belhaven.edu.
Live stats and live video are available for all Gents' home games.
A link to the Gents' complete 2021 schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2020-21/schedule
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