Shreveport - The No. 19 Centenary baseball team escaped a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the top of the ninth to defeat the Schreiner University Mountaineers, 5-4 in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference game and extend their winning streak to 12 games on Friday night at Shehee Stadium.
The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday with games set for 1 and 4 p.m. Live stats and video will be available for both games at the links below:
Stats: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2020-21/boxscores/20210326_cf96.xml
Video: https://collegetvticket.com/portal/centenary
The Gents (18-2, 4-0 SCAC) were playing in front of fans for the first time all season at home and continued their best start to a season in the division III era (2012-present). Centenary is one game ahead of the pace of the 2017 team that made the NCAA Tournament and was 17-3 after its first 20 games.
Centenary, which moved up to No. 19 in the country in the D3baseball.com/NCBWA Week 5 poll on Tuesday, improved to 8-0 this season at home and the Gents are now 11-1 in their last 12 home games going back to the beginning of last season. Schreiner fell to 7-11 and 1-3 in SCAC play with Friday's loss. Centenary is now an amazing 27-6 in its last 33 games and have not lost a game since falling 8-5 at Huntingdon back on Feb. 28.
The game was the closest one the Gents have played in weeks as their season-long offensive prowess has allowed them to cruise to comfortable wins, but the Mountaineers chipped away in the final inning and had the tying and winning runs in scoring position but could not deliver. Friday is the first one-run decision for Centenary all season and closest since defeating LeTourneau, 5-3, in game one of a road DH on March 13.
Entering Friday's play, the Gents had scored 13 or more runs in four-straight games after doing so in all three games of a road sweep in conference play last weekend over Austin College. Centenary's offense has been the catalyst all season but especially during its current winning streak, as the Maroon and White have scored 10 or more runs in a game 11 times this season, and 11 or more nine times and have done so eight times during their current 12-game winning streak.
The Gents jumped out to a 3-0 lead with three runs in the bottom of the third inning. Junior SS Brady Robinson (Jacksonville, Texas) led off with a single down the right field line and then stole second base. Junior CF Gary Hewitt (Cedar Park, Texas) walked and Robinson advanced to third on a fly out by senior right-fielder Cody Crowder (Shepherd, Texas). Senior first baseman Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas) then launched an RBI double off the centerfield wall, scoring Robinson and advancing Hewitt to third. Senior 2B Tyler Erickson (Houston, Texas) then delivered a two-RBI single through the right side to score Ludwick and Hewitt for a three-run Centenary lead.
Schreiner responded with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning as catcher Gerardo Cardoza had a two-run single to make it 3-2. CF Aiden Warren, however, hit into an inning-ending double play to preserve the Centenary lead. Senior DH Tyler Welch (Alexandria, La.) quickly added to the Gents' lead as he led off the bottom of the fourth with a long solo home run over the right-field wall to make it a 4-2 game, his second long ball of the season.
Centenary added a run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 5-2 as Erickson had another RBI single, scoring Crowder, who was hit by a pitch to open the inning and then stole second base.
Centenary starting pitcher, senior lefty Connor Lee (Sugarland, Texas) got the win as he went seven solid innings and allowed nine hits but just two earned runs with a walk and six strikeouts. Sophomore Parker Primeaux (Lake Charles, La.) relieved Lee and pitched a scoreless eighth inning but things got tense in the ninth. Primeaux hit LF Devin Hooper with a pitch to lead off the inning. 2B Chance Goins then singled and pinch hitter Isaiah Hernandez singled to load the bases with none out.
Schreiner sent up another pinch hitter, Keller Driskill, and Primeaux proceeded to strike him out for the first out of the inning. A third-consecutive pinch hitter, Cole Fallowfield, then came to the plate and reached on an infield single to third base to score Hooper and re-load the bases, making it a 5-3 game. Primeaux then got SS Miguel Quinones to ground out to third base, scoring another run to make it 5-4, but recorded the key second out. Primeaux then dug in and struck out 3B Josh Gilliam looking to end the game with the potential tying and winning runs in scoring position as he picked up his team-high fourth save.
Schreiner starter Garrett Whitley took the loss to fall to 3-2 as he allowed five runs, all earned, and eight hits in five innings of work with two walks and five strikeouts. Two Schreiner relievers, Daniel Garza and Jack Hakala, combined to hold the Gents without a run or hit over the final three innings with no walks and two K's.
Centenary played superb defense all night, highlighted by a highlight-reel running catch in foul territory by Crowder in the second inning and the Gents' staff induced three double plays on the night, two of which ended innings. Erickson and junior catcher Ben Bridges (Beckville, Texas) each had two hits to lead the offense and Ludwick, Welch, Robinson, and senior 3B Chris Haggard (Lake Charles, La.) each had one hit. Five different Gents scored a run including the top three in the lineup (Hewitt, Crowder, and Ludwick). Goins had a game-high three hits to lead the Mountaineers and Hooper and Gilliam each had two to lead Schreiner's 13-hit attack.
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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