Shreveport - The Centenary baseball team walked off the Southwestern University Pirates, 3-2, in the opener of a three-game Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series on Friday night at Shehee Stadium as the Maroon and White extended their season-high winning streak to seven games.
The Diamond Gents (21-13, 11-5 SCAC) and Pirates (16-16, 7-9 SCAC will wrap up the series on Saturday with a doubleheader set for 1 and 4 p.m. The 2022 senior class will be honored following the second game on Saturday and it will be live streamed as this weekend is the final home series of the season for Centenary.
Live stats and live video are available for Saturday's DH at the links below:
Stats: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2021-22/boxscores/20220423_c6w7.xml
Video: https://collegetvticket.com/event/centenary-college-vs-southwestern-university-5/
Sophomore Julien DeLeon (Shreveport) pinch hit with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning and reached on a fielder's choice as sophomore pinch runner Christian Dennis (Shreveport) crossed the plate with the winning run to set off a wild celebration on the Shehee Stadium infield by the Diamond Gents.
Centenary won its fourth-straight home game and improved to 11-5 on its home field this season. The Diamond Gents have now won 11 of their last 14 at home after starting the season 0-2 and are a stellar 31-8 at home in their last 39 games. Friday's victory was extra sweet as the Diamond Gents entered the series with revenge likely on their minds after losing all four games to the Pirates last season, a three-game sweep in Georgetown and a 12-9 loss in the 2021 SCAC Championship in Cleburne, Texas which ended Centenary's season.
Centenary took a 1-0 lead in the second inning as freshman RF Cade LaBruyere (Iowa, La.) led off with a triple to right-center and scored on a sacrifice fly by junior SS Noah Koehmstedt (San Diego, Calif.). The speedy rookie LaBruyere ripped a liner toward Southwestern RF Ted Lobkowicz who lost his footing and tried to regain his balance but once he did the ball was over his head and LaBruyere was off the races as he excitedly slid head first ahead of the tag to the delight of his teammates in the dugout.
Centenary freshman LHP Tyler Herrera (Spring, Texas) held the Pirates scoreless for the first four frames but ran into trouble in the fifth. CF Maxwell Mims, who had singled on the first pitch of the game, stepped to the plate with runners on second and third with two outs and delivered a clutch two- RBI triple to right center to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead. Herrera retired pinch hitter Sam Castillo on a groundout to short to end the inning, but a one-out walk followed by a wild pitch came back to bite Herrera as he allowed more than one earned run in a game for the first time since March 9 versus Millsaps.
Herrera, in the midst of a superb freshman season, received a no-decision as he remained unbeaten this season at 5-0 and has allowed just six earned runs in 50 innings pitched. He has struck out 47, thrown one complete game, and boasts a stellar 1.08 ERA. Herrera, a two-time SCAC Pitcher of the Week recipient, was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Rookie of the Week on March 31 and is one of just two SCAC pitchers to earn the conference Pitcher of the Week honor twice this season after he picked up the honor for the first time on March 1.
Herrera went 5.1 innings and allowed two runs, both earned, and seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Junior RHP Parker Primeaux (Lake Charles, La.) relieved him and picked up the win as he went the final 3.2 innings and was outstanding as he allowed just one hit with one walk and five K's.
The Pirates maintained their 2-1 lead until the bottom of the eighth when the Diamond Gents tied it. Junior Cole Collins (Shreveport, La.) pinch hit for senior DH Tyler Welch (Pineville, La.) to lead off the inning and came through with a double to right center. Senior 3B Brady Robinson (Jacksonville, Texas) moved Collins to third with a sacrifice and senior 1B Preston Ludwick (Pflugerville, Texas) ted the game with a sac fly to right. The RBI was the 149th of Ludwick's decorated career as he is now just one shy of 150 and ranks second all-time in the division III era (2012-present) in the category.
Primeaux struck out the side in the top of the ninth, getting all three Pirates to go down swinging. Southwestern starter Travis Harvey (1-2) started off the bottom of the ninth by plunking Centenary pinch hitter, freshman Zachery Van Gorkom (Shreveport), to set up immediate trouble. Koehmstedt popped up a sac bunt attempt which Southwestern 1B Jacob Tanner dove and caught as Centenary missed a chance to move Van Gorkom into scoring position.
Senior John Beaudion (Houston, Texas) then grabbed a bat and pinch hit for senior Luke Royle (Dodge City, Kan.) and he promptly poked a sharp single through the left side and both he and Van Gorkom moved into scoring position when Southwestern LF Adam Werchan, a defensive replacement to begin the inning, misplayed the ball. Dennis came in to pinch run at third and senior CF Gary Hewitt (Cedar Park, Texas) was intentionally walked to load the bases. Southwestern turned to the bullpen and brought in Gregory Ferguson. DeLeon then got the call for Collins and was put in an immediate pressure-packed spot.
DeLeon hit a sharp ball toward the middle of the field and Southwestern 2B Trent Raschke initially was unable to field the ball cleanly before gathering it and flipping it to SS Alexander Cannata for the force out, but Dennis by then had crossed the plate with the winning run. The bobble cost the Pirates any chance at turning an inning-ending double play that would have sent the game to extra innings as Centenary won its sixth one-run game this season and DeLeon, in just his 14th at-bat of the season, delivered his eighth RBI.
Harvey suffered the loss but was tough on Centenary hitters all night before his exit. He went 8.1 innings and allowed three runs, two earned, and six hits with four walks and eight strikeouts. He faced 36 batters, hitting one, before giving way to Ferguson for what wound up being the final batter of the game.
Tanner had a game-high three hits and a walk and Mims finished 2-4 with the two-RBI triple. Southwestern left six on base, struck out 10 times, and committed the costly ninth-inning error. Centenary left six on base, drew four walks, struck out eight times and made one error.
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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