San Antonio, Texas - The No. 19 Centenary baseball team salvaged the final game of its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend series against the No. 2 Trinity Tigers, winning 14-12 on Sunday at the Trinity Baseball Field.
The #19 Gents (29-7, 13-5 SCAC) rebounded from a disappointing day on Saturday as they dropped a doubleheader by identical scores of 9-6. Trinity fell to 25-4 and 12-2 with Sunday's loss as the Gents handed the Tigers just their second home loss all season.
Centenary, ranked for the sixth week in a row in the D3baseball.com/NCBWA poll and have been ranked as high as 14th in the poll this season, exploded for 14 runs on a season-high 21 hits on Sunday. Trinity had 16 hits of its own but made two errors while the Gents played error-free ball.
An astounding five Centenary players posted three-hit games and two others collected two each. The Gents also drew four walks, had five extra-base hits, and stole three bases. Five Tigers had at least two hits each and they, like Centenary, collected five extra-base hits. Senior Conner Poche (Lutcher, La.) started and went the first three innings and allowed four runs, all earned, on five hits with one walk and no strikeouts.
Fellow senior Andy Purpura (Bozeman, Mont.) relieved him and went an inning as he allowed two runs, both earned, and two hits with a walk. Senior Connor Cudd (Lake Charles, La.) became the Gents' third pitcher of the day and went just 0.2 innings and was charged with four earned runs on three hits with a strikeout. Freshman southpaw Jacob Colby (Kingwood, Texas) came in for Cudd and gave up two hits and an earned run and allowed a home run. Sophomore Parker Primeaux (Lake Charles, La.) pitched the final 4.1 innings to earn the win and move to 3-4 on the season. He allowed just one earned run and four hits with no walks and a pair of strikeouts.
Trinity used seven pitchers on Sunday with Ethan Clark (2-2) taking the loss. He allowed two runs, both earned, and four hits in 0.2 innings with one strikeout. Tigers' starter Samuel Conte was hit hard and lasted just 0.1 innings and was charged with three earned runs and four hits. He was one of five Trinity pitchers to allow at least two runs on the day and four pitchers were touched for four or more hits.
Senior RF Cody Crowder (Shepherd, Texas) had a big day for the Gents as he went 3-5 with three RBI, a walk, two runs scored, a double, and a stolen base. His RBI double in the fifth gave the Gents a 5-4 lead and was his 82nd career extra-base hit which makes him the program's all-time leader in the category in the division III era (2012-present). Junior CF Gary Hewitt (Cedar Park, Texas) went 3-5 as well from the leadoff spot in the lineup and scored three runs, had a double, and drew a walk.
Senior 1B Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas) was 3-5 with two RBI and a run scored. Senior 3B Chris Haggard (Lake Charles, La.) continued his impressive offensive run of late as he was 30-5 with an RBI, a double, and two runs scored. Senior DH Tyler Welch (Alexandria, La.) went 3-5 with two RBI, a run scored, and a stolen base.
Junior C Ben Bridges (Beckville, Texas) and junior SS Brady Robinson (Jacksonville, Texas) each hit home runs for the Gents and combined to go 3-9 with three RBI, three runs scored, two walks, and a stolen base.
The Gents scored three in the top of the first and led 4-1 after two innings. The Tigers tied it with a pair in the fourth and after Centenary put up four in the fifth to lead 8-4, Trinity erupted for seven in the bottom half to take an 11-8 lead. Each team scored a run in the sixth as Trinity held a 12-9 advantage entering the seventh. Centenary struck for three runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to overtake the Tigers and Primeaux protected the 14-12 lead and seal the much-needed win.
Centenary now returns home to the comforts of Shehee Stadium where the Maroon and White are a perfect 16-0 this season and 19-1 in the last 20 games. The Gents have swept five series at home this season. The Gents are currently third in the conference standings and will host conference leader Texas Lutheran (22-10, 13-2 SCAC) beginning Friday, April 30 at 6 p.m. and will wrap up the series with a doubleheader on Saturday, May 1 at Noon and 3 p.m. Centenary will hold its annual Senior Day recognition following the 3 p.m. game.
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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