Shreveport – The Centenary baseball team returns to the field on Sunday as the Diamond Gents are set to face the Alma College Scots in a non-conference doubleheader set for 1 and 3 p.m. at Shehee Stadium.
Live stats and live video with commentary will be available for both games at the links below:
Stats: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2021-22/boxscores/20220220_e6qy.xml
Video: https://collegetvticket.com/event/centenary-college-vs-alma-college/
The Diamond Gents (3-3) and Scots (0-0) will meet for the first time and Alma will also be opening its season on Sunday. The teams are scheduled to play another DH on Monday at 3 and 6 p.m. Alama College, a fellow division III school, is located in Alma, Mich. and is a member of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA). The Scots finished last season 14-20 overall.
Centenary, currently receiving votes (7) in the latest D3baseball.com/NCBWA poll, went 1-1 in the Millsaps Baseball Classic last weekend in Jackson, Miss. The Diamond Gents lost 4-3 to the Huntingdon College Hawks in their first game of the event on Feb. 11 but responded a day later with a 15-4 win in eight innings over MUW as they posted season highs in both runs (15) and hits (14).
Centenary set or tied season highs in RBI (11), at-bats (42) doubles (3), and stolen bases (2) along with new highs in both runs and hits. The Maroon and White had 11 hits versus the Hawks which was their season high until hammering out 14 in the blowout win over the Owls.
The Diamond Gents are eager to get back on the field after their third scheduled game in Jackson was cancelled on Feb. 13 versus LaGrange College. Centenary will also be eager to play in the comfortable surroundings of its home ballpark where the Diamond Gents are a remarkable 22-5 in their last 27 home games dating back to the beginning of last season. Centenary went 2-2 at home to open its season Feb. 5-7 against ETBU and Willamette in the 2022 Gents Classic, splitting a pair of games with both the Tigers and the Bearcats.
Centenary started slowly offensively to begin the season but has heated up of late, getting 11 or more hits in three of the last four games and eight in the other as the Maroon and White are averaging 6.5 runs per game in that span. The Diamond Gents struck out nine or more times in the first three games of the season but have struck out only eight times total in the last two games while drawing 11 walks. The Centenary pitching staff has also been strong over the last three games, allowing just five earned runs on 14 hits in 25 innings with five walks and 17 strikeouts.
The Diamond Gents broke open a 1-1 game versus the Owls on Feb. 12 with two runs in the top of the fourth, three in the fifth, and four in the seventh. Centenary then put the finishing touches on the blowout with five in the top of the eighth. The Owls scored one run in the bottom of the first, two in the fifth and a single run in the bottom of the eighth.
Senior 1B Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas) and senior DH Tyler Welch (Lake Charles, La.) each had three hits to pace the Diamond Gents' offense. Senior SS Brady Robinson (Jacksonville, Texas) and senior 2B Tyler Erickson (Houston, Texas) each had two hits and four other Gents had one hit apiece. Ludwick finished 3-5 with two RBI and a run scored, Welch was 3-5 with an RBI and a game-high four runs scored, and Robinson was 2-4 with two RBI, a walk, and three runs scored. Erickson finished 2-5 with 3 RBI and a run scored.
Senior 3B Ben Bridges (Beckville, Texas) went 1-3 with a pair of walks and scored a run and freshman RF Cade LaBruyere (Iowa, La.) was 1-2 with two RBI and scored two runs. Senior LF John Beaudion (Houston, Texas) was 1-5 and scored a pair of runs. Welch, LaBruyere, and Erickson each had doubles and Robinson tripled. Robinson and Beaudion each stole a base and the Diamond Gents drew three walks on the day, had a sacrifice fly, and only struck out four times.
Junior LHP Collier Cloinger (Bossier City, La.) started on the mound for Centenary and pitched an inning. He allowed one earned run on two hits with a walk and two strikeouts. He faced seven batters and threw 26 pitches with 14 for strikes and hit a batter. Senior Luke Royle (Dodge City, Kan.) relieved Cloinger and picked up his first win of the season as he pitched five solid innings and allowed just two runs (one earned) on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Royle faced 23 batters and threw 82 pitches with 59 strikes and also hit one batter. Junior RHP Peyton Thibodeaux (Lake Arthur, La.) was Centenary's third and final pitcher of the game as he pitched the seventh and eighth innings and allowed just one unearned run on one hit with a strikeout, throwing 26 pitches (18) strikes and hit one of his nine batters faced.
The Diamond Gents tied it in the second, scoring an unearned run and then scored a pair in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead. Ludwick scored on a wild pitch and sophomore C Austyn Benoit (Welsh, La.) drove Welch home on a sac fly. Centenary then put three runs on the board in the fifth on an RBI triple by Robinson to score Beaudion and a pair of unearned runs on Owls errors.
MUW scored two in the bottom half of the fifth to make it 6-3 but Centenary responded immediately with four more the next half inning to widen the lead to 10-3. Erickson ripped an RBI double to right center to score LaBruyere, Robinson delivered a run-scoring single, and Ludwick capped the scoring with a two-RBI single. Welch had an RBI single in the eighth followed by a two-RBI double by LaBruyere and an RBI single by Erickson.
Centenary utilized dominant pitching to silence one of the nation's top offensive teams in its most recent home game, back on Feb. 7 against ETBU in the final game of the Gents Classic. Three pitchers limited ETBU to just four singles in the 2-1 win. Junior RHP Parker Primeaux (Lake Charles, La.) picked up his first win of the season for the Gents as he pitched the final three innings and allowed just a hit with one walk and five strikeouts. Cloinger started and went two innings. He did not allow a run or a hit and walked one with a pair of strikeouts. Thibodeaux relived Cloinger and pitched four superb innings in his season debut, allowing just three hits and an unearned run with no walks and a pair of K's.
Centenary's pitching was superb against Huntingdon last weekend, despite the loss as two Diamond Gent pitchers allowed just three hits to the Hawks on the day. Junior RHP Christian Diaz (Houston, Texas) made his second start of the season for Centenary and suffered his first loss but pitched well as he went six innings and allowed four runs, three earned, with three hits and one walk and one strikeout. Primeaux followed Diaz and pitched two perfect innings in relief. Diaz faced 26 batters and threw 73 pitches, 45 for strikes while Primeaux faced six batters and threw just 14 pitches with nine for strikes.
Centenary Senior CF Gary Hewitt (Cedar Park, Texas) and Ludwick paced the Diamond Gents' offense with three hits each. Freshman DH Zachery Van Gorkom (Shreveport, La.) went 2-3 with a double as he picked up the first two hits of his Centenary career. Hewitt finished 3-5 with an RBI and a double and Ludwick went 3-5 with two RBI and a double in the game.
See the complete Diamond Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2021-22/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests but be advised of current COVID-19 protocols for fans. Updated COVID-19 information is now available via www.GoCentenary.com.
Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests. Please note that all dates and times are subject to change.
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