Shreveport - The No. 18 Centenary baseball team swept a doubleheader over the St. Thomas Celts in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play, winning 12-3 in game one and 10-0 in eight innings in game two on Saturday at Shehee Stadium.
The Gents (26-5, 11-3 SCAC) go for the sweep on Sunday in the series finale which is set for Noon. Live stats and live video will be available for the game at the links below:
Live stats: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2020-21/boxscores/20210418_7mxh.xml
Live video: https://collegetvticket.com/portal/centenary
St. Thomas fell to 14-12 overall and 3-11 in league play with Saturday's losses. Centenary remained perfect at home this season as the Maroon and White are now 15-0 at Shehee Stadium. Centenary improved to 35-9 in its last 44 games dating back to last season and are 18-1 in its last 19 home games.
Game one recap:
The Gents led 7-0 after four innings to cruise to the victory in game one of the DH. Centenary banged out 11 hits and scored multiple runs in four different innings.
Junior C/OF Gary Hewitt (Cedar Park, Texas) was 3-5 with an RBI and two runs scored from the leadoff spot. He had a double and a triple. Senior P Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas) started on the mound and picked up the win to move to 7-1 on the season as he allowed just one earned run and six hits in six solid innings of work. He threw 101 pitches, 63 for strikes, and walked just two with a career and season-high 11 strikeouts.
He was also 1-2 at the plate with three RBI and two runs scored. Senior LF Tyler Welch (Alexandria, La.) went 2-3 and scored a run and senior RF Cody Crowder (Shepherd, Texas) was 1-4 with two runs scored and a walk.
Senior C Tyler Erickson (Houston, Texas) was 1-4 with a run scored and an RBI, and junior 1B Ben Bridges (Beckville, Texas) was 1-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Senior 3B Chris Haggard (Lake Charles, La.) and sophomore 2B Cole Collins (Shreveport) each had a pair of RBI.
The Gents collected four extra-base hits including a season-high three triples. St. Thomas had eight hits, two apiece by C Parker Edwards and 2B Noah Martinez. Celts' starter Luke Sebesta (0-3) suffered the loss as he allowed nine runs, seven earned, in five innings with one walk and one strikeout.
Four pitchers followed Ludwick for Centenary to pitch the final three innings. Senior RHP Brock Yates (Bellaire, Texas) pitched a third of an inning, fellow senior right-hander Connor Cudd (Lake Charles, La.) went an inning, senior Cullen Sharkey (Bossier City, La.) pitched 2/3 of an inning, and sophomore Jacob Lievre (Katy, Texas) finished off the win with a clean ninth inning and struck out one.
Game two recap:
The Gents wasted no time in taking command of game two of the DH as they scored four times in the bottom of the first inning. They added a pair in the fifth, three more in the sixth, and a single run in the eighth to win 10-0 in eight innings and record their fourth shutout of the season.
Centenary scored in double digits for the second game in a row and 15th time this season. The Maroon and White collected 13 hits while holding the Celts to just four.
Hewitt, Crowder, Erickson, Welch, and Bridges each had two hits and combined to go 10-20 at the plate with six RBI and seven runs scored. Ludwick, playing first base, went 1-4 with two runs scored and a walk. Hewitt also stole three bases.
The Gents hit three more triples to tie their season single-game high set in game one earlier in the day and had five total extra-base hits. Junior SS Brady Robinson (Jacksonville, Texas) had a triple in each game. Crowder's double in the eighth inning broke the all-time record for hits in a career by a Gent in the division III era (2012-present) as he now has 226 in his superb career.
Senior lefty Connor Lee (Sugarland, Texas) started and picked up the win to move to 6-1 on the season as he was superb in his seven innings of work, allowing just three hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Landon Murray (3-3) took the loss for the Celts as he was roughed up for nine runs, all earned, and 12 hits in 5.1 innings of work with a walk and a strikeout.
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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