La Verne, Calif. – The Centenary baseball team lost 12-8 to the University of La Verne Leopards in a non-conference contest on Wednesday afternoon at Ben Hines Field.
The Diamond Gents (6-8) lost their fourth-straight game and remained winless on their seven-game game west coast road trip. The Leopards improved to 5-1-1 on the season. Centenary and La Verne also played on Sunday with the Leopards winning 9-7.
Despite the loss, Centenary continued to perform well offensively as the Maroon and White collected 13 hits on Wednesday, as they recorded 10 or more hits for the ninth time this season. Five Diamond Gents posted multi-hit games and Centenary recorded three extra-base hits. Five La Verne players also collected two or more hits. The Leopards took a 4-0 lead after three innings but three runs in the fourth followed by a five spot in the fifth by the Diamond Gents gave them an 8-4 lead after five innings.
La Verne, however, scored the final eight runs of the game over the final five innings to record the win. The Leopards finished with 14 hits, one home run, and drew five walks. La Verne committed an error, struck out twice, and left seven on base. The Diamond Gents committed four errors, struck out eight times, and left four on base.
Senior RHP Luke Royle (Dodge City, Kan.) suffered the loss for Centenary as he relieved starting pitcher Tyler Welch (Lake Charles, La.). Welch went 4.1 innings and allowed six runs, three earned, and seven hits. He walked four and struck out one. Welch threw 83 pitches (55 strikes) and faced 23 batters. Royle (2-1) went an inning and also allowed six runs, three earned, and four hits with a walk and a strikeout. He faced nine batters and threw 35 total pitches, 28 for strikes. Freshman RHP Tyler Herrera (Spring, Texas) faced three batters and allowed a hit and was relieved by junior RHP Christian Diaz (Houston, Texas) who went and inning and allowed a hit. Junior RHP Hank Bennett (Richmond, Texas) pitched the eighth and allowed just a hit.
Alfredo Frey (1-0) picked up the win as he pitched three innings and allowed just here hits with a pair of strikeouts. He faced nine batters and threw 22 pitches, 14 for strikes. Austin Klopfenstein started and went the first three innings as he allowed just three earned runs and two hits with two walks and five K's.
Senior SS Brady Robinson (Jacksonville, Texas) went 2-3 with three RBI to lead the Centenary offense with a run scored, and senior 2B Tyler Erickson (Houston, Texas) was 3-4 with two runs scored. Senior 1B Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas) had another solid offensive day as he went 2-5 with an RBI and scored two runs. Freshman 3B Blaine Miller (Lewisville, Texas) finished 2-4 and sophomore RF Austyn Benoit (Welsh, La.) was 2-2 with an RBI, a run scored, and a walk. Senior CF Gary Hewitt (Cedar Park, Texas) was 1-4 with two RBI.
La Verne DH John Bike went 3-5 with five RBI, a run scored, and a three-run home run. CF Logan Reese went 2-4 with three RBI and a run scored. RF Brandon Shiota finished 2-4 with two RBI, three runs scored, and a walk. 1B Tanner Siffert was 2-3 with three runs scored. 3B Cameron Slessor was 2-5 with two runs scored.
Ludwick tripled in Erickson in the fourth to get the Diamond Gents on the scoreboard, Robinson delivered a sacrifice fly, and Hewitt hit into a fielder's choice to score senior C Ben Bridges (Beckville, Texas). Bridges, who finished 1-3 with two runs scored and a walk, had an RBI double in the fifth to score Erickson. Robinson, Benoit, and Hewitt each drove in runs for an 8-4 lead heading to the bottom of the fifth. Bike homered off of Royle to make it an 8-7 game and Bike capped a five-run sixth with an RBI single for the 12-8 lead.
Below is Centenary's remaining schedule for its California trip:
Saturday, March 5: vs. Occidental (DH) - 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. (1 & 4:30 p.m. CT)
Sunday, March 6: vs. Occidental - 10 a.m. (NOON CT)
See the complete Diamond Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2021-22/schedule
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