Shreveport- The Centenary baseball team will aim to continue its hot start to the season as the Gents welcome the LeTourneau YellowJackets to town on Friday for a non-conference doubleheader with games set for 3 and 6 p.m. at Shehee Stadium.
Live stats and live video are available for both of Friday's games at the links below:
Stats: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2020-21/boxscores/20210312_gj2o.xml
Video: https://collegetvticket.com/portal/centenary
The Gents (9-2) remained undefeated at home this season after completing a three-game weekend sweep in non-conference play over the Dubuque University Spartans last Saturday with a 4-0 shutout victory. Centenary, which won 13-6 on Thursday night and 5-1 on Friday, is off to its best start to a season since beginning 8-3 in 2017.
The Gents are now 8-1 in their last nine home games dating back to last season and the Maroon and White have won 18 of their last 24 games overall going back to the start of last season. Centenary is receiving votes in the current 2021 D3baseball.com/NCBWA Week 3 poll: https://www.d3baseball.com/top25/2021/2021Top25-week-3.
Centenary, which has scored 10 or more runs in a game four times this season, has outscored its opponents at home 34-12 through five games so far this season. The Gents own an impressive .321 overall team batting average, a .412 on-base percentage, and a .432 slugging percentage.
The Gents' pitching staff has been equally sensational through the season's first 11 games, posting a 2.51 team ERA, which ranks first in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Gents also rank second defensively in the conference (.972 fielding percentage) and their team batting average is fourth-best in the league. Centenary has allowed two runs or less five times this season with a pair of shutouts.
Centenary sophomore Parker Primeaux (Lake Charles, La.) was named the SCAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week on Monday for his impressive weekend against Dubuque. The sophomore right-hander made an appearance in all three games last weekend and pitched 5.2 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits with four strikeouts and did not walk a batter while picking up saves in two of his three outings. Primeaux (1-1, 2.21 ERA) has been one of the anchors of the pitching staff as he has pitched 20.1 innings and struck out 16 while walking just five in eight total appearances. He also has a team-best three saves and ranks sixth in the SCAC in ERA.
Senior catcher Tyler Erickson (Houston, Texas) leads the Gents with a .415 batting average and is the conference leader in hits with 17. Erickson has 11 RBI (second on team) and six runs scored and has only struck out twice in 41 at-bats this season. He owns a .510 on-base percentage and is slugging at a .463 clip. Senior right fielder Cody Crowder (Shepherd, Texas) is off to another great start to a season as he is second on the team with a .385 batting average and leads the Gents in both OBP (.538) and slugging (.718).
Crowder, who recorded his 200th career hit last Friday, is second on the team with 15 hits and leads the Gents with 15 runs scored. He has a team-bests five doubles, a triple, two homers, and seven RBI.
Senior Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas) has been superb both at the plate and on the mound for the Gents this season. He is hitting an impressive .357, third on team, with a .471 OBP and is slugging .405. He has 15 hits, 10 RBI, 11 runs scored, and a pair of doubles. Ludwick was named the SCAC Baseball Hitter of the Week on Feb. 15 as he hit.429 overall in a pair of Centenary wins, going 3-7 with four RBI, a run scored, and a pair of walks.
Ludwick moved to 3-0 on the season with a shutout win over the Spartans last Saturday and now owns a team-low 1.45 ERA as he has allowed just three runs and nine hits in 18.2 IP this season with seven walks and 15 K's and a complete game shutout earlier in the season versus Huntingdon on the road on Feb. 27.
Several other members of the centenary pitching staff have been solid early in the season as well. Senior Conner Poche (Lutcher, La.) is 1-0 with a 2.50 ERA and has started two games, senior Connor Cudd (Lake Charles, La.) is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA and senior southpaw Connor Lee (Sugarland, Texas) is 2-1 with a 4.94 ERA and a team-high five starts. He was named the SCAC Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 15 after he pitched in both of the Gents' games on the opening week of the season last month, a pair of non-conference wins over Louisiana College (6-1) and ETBU (7-4) and in seven innings pitched he did not allow an earned run with five strikeouts and no walks,
Junior Ben Bridges (Beckville, Texas) was red hot at the plate all of last weekend for the Gents as he went 4-12 for the weekend with six RBI and a run scored. He posted a pair of multi-hit games and had at least one RBI in each game of the series. He is hitting .273 for the season with an OBP of .340 and is slugging .364. He has 13 RBI, 12 total hits, five runs scored, a double, and a homer. Bridges has recorded four multi-hit games so far this season including a four-hit effort versus ETBU on Feb. 12. Junior center fielder Gary Hewitt (Cedar Park, Texas), senior left fielder Luke Royle (Dodge City, Kan.), and junior shortstop Brady Robinson (Jacksonville, Texas) have all gotten off to solid starts at the plate as well. The three have combined for 35 hits, 20 runs scored, 16 RBI, and 10 doubles.
Centenary will face LeTourneau again on Saturday in Longview, Texas for a doubleheader with games scheduled for 1 and 3:30 p.m. The Gents will then open SCAC play next weekend at Austin College in Sherman, Texas. The three-game series will begin on Friday, March 19 at 7 p.m. with a doubleheader on Saturday the 20th at 1 and 4 p.m.
Live stats and live video are available for all home contests.
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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