Shreveport - The No. 18 Centenary baseball team held off the St. Thomas Celts on Sunday by a score of 7-5 at Shehee Stadium to sweep a three-game weekend series in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play and remain undefeated at home this season.
The Gents (27-5, 12-3 SCAC) are now 16-0 at home this season and 19-1 in their last 20 home games overall, and the Maroon and White are also an incredible 36-9 in their last 45 games dating back to the beginning of last season. St. Thomas dropped to 14-13 overall and 3-12 in SCAC play. The Gents have now swept seven series this season with five of those sweeps coming at home.
Centenary raced out to a 6-0 lead after two innings but the Celts scored three in the top of the fourth and added two more in the seventh to make things interesting headed into the final two innings. The Gents added an insurance run in the eighth and sophomore Parker Primeaux (Lake Charles, La.) shut the door for his conference-leading eighth save of the season, as he pitched the final 2.1 innings and allowed just one hit with a walk and a strikeout. Primeaux is now tied for second in the country in division III in saves.
Senior Conner Poche (Lutcher, La.) started and went the first 3.2 innings and allowed three runs (one earned) on seven hits with no walks and one strikeout. Senior right-hander Andy Purpura (Bozeman, Mont.) relieved Poche and pitched three effective innings to pick up the win and move to 3-0 on the season. He allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits with no walks and one strikeout. Primeaux then pitched the final 2.1 innings.
Celts' starter Zachary Brewer (0-2) suffered the loss as he lasted just 1.2 innings and was tagged for six runs, all earned, on four hits with two walks and no K's. A pair of relievers followed him, Eric Moore and Caleb Desilets, and combined to pitch the final 6.1 innings and allowed just one earned run and three hits with two walks and two K's.
Senior RF Cody Crowder (Shepherd, Texas) and fellow senior, 3B Chris Haggard (Lake Charles, La.), combined to go 4-8 with four RBI and two runs scored. Crowder had three RBI and his two-run triple in the second tied the division III era (2012-present) for extra-base hits in a career (82).
Junior CF Gary Hewitt (Cedar Park, Texas) went 1-2 with an RBI and two runs scored. Hewitt also stole two bases and Crowder and Haggard each swiped a bag. Haggard came up clutch in the field and at the plate in the late innings.
The Celts cut the Gents' lead to 6-5 with two outs in the seventh following a base hit by 1B Caleb Edmonds that scored a run and then an error by Haggard allowed a second run to score but Haggard would quickly shake off that miscue. Primeaux then entered the game for Purpura and the first batter he faced, SS Leo Galvan hit a rocket off of Primeaux which ricocheted to Haggard who gathered the ball quickly and rifled a beautiful throw to 1B Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas) for the third out on a stellar play to preserve the Gents' lead.
Haggard then delivered a key one-out RBI single to score DH Tyler Welch (Alexandria, La.) with an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth for a 7-5 lead.
The Gents step out of conference play on Wednesday as they face the Louisiana College Wildcats in Pineville, La. in a non-conference game set for 7:05 p.m. Centenary opened the season with a 6-1 win over the Wildcats at home on Feb. 9.
Centenary then travels to San Antonio, Texas April 24-25 for a critical three-game conference series against Trinity. The Gents then close the regular season with another key three-game series at home versus Texas Lutheran, April 30-May 1.
The Gents' quest for a regular-season conference title is right in front of them over the final two weekends as Trinity (22-3, 10-1 SCAC) and Texas Lutheran (19-2, 10-2 SCAC) are currently first and second in the conference standings while Centenary is third. Centenary will hold its annual Senior Day ceremony following the second game of its doubleheader on Saturday, May 1. The games are scheduled for Noon and 3 p.m. following a 6 p.m. series opener the night before, Friday, April 30.
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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