Sherman, Texas – The Centenary baseball team finished off a three-game series sweep of the Austin College Kangaroos in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Sunday afternoon with a 12-2 victory as the Diamond Gents extended their season-best six-game winning streak at Baker Field.
The Diamond Gents (22-13, 13-7 SCAC) recorded a doubleheader sweep on Saturday, winning 13-0 in seven innings in game one and 6-1 in game two. Austin College finishes its season at 6-31 and 2-17 in conference play. Centenary continued its dominance in the all-time series as the Maroon and White now lead 33-2 and have won nine games in a row since their last loss on April 17, 2019.
Centenary has earned the No. 3 seed in next weekend's SCAC Championship in Cleburne, Texas and will face No. 2 seed Trinity (25-14, 16-5 SCAC) in the second game of the tournament on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
The Diamond Gents jumped out to a 2-0 lead after an inning and added three more in the third to take a 5-0 lead. The 'Roos scored twice in the bottom of the fifth but Centenary responded with a single run in the sixth and tacked on six more in the top of the ninth to record the win.
Centenary finished with 16 hits and held Austin College to just four. The Diamond Gents finished the three-game series with 15+ hits in all three games and collected a total of 48 while holding the 'Roos to a total of 11. Centenary played error-free ball, drew a pair of walks, left nine on base, and struck out eight times. Austin College left seven on, struck out 11 times, walked five times, and made three errors. The 'Roos committed six errors in the series, finishing with just over half as many miscues at hits. Centenary outscored the 'Roos 31-3 in the series.
Freshman LHP Cody Myers (Friendswood, Texas) picked up the win on the mound for Centenary as he came in to relieve starting pitcher, freshman RHP Aidan Reichek (Bellaire, Texas). Myers (3-1) went 3.2 innings and did not allow a run or a hit with one walk and three strikeouts. Reichek went 4.1 innings and allowed two earned runs and four hits with four BB and six K's. Senior RHP Peyton Thibodeaux (Lake Arthur, La.) pitched the ninth for Centenary and struck out two batters without allowing a hit.
Garrett Gray (0-6) started for the 'Roos and was charged with the loss. He allowed six runs, four earned, and 10 hits in 7.1 innings with two BB and seven K's. Austin College used three relievers who combined to allow six runs, two earned, and six hits in 1.2 innings with no BB and one K.
Freshman 1B Collin Pitts (Lufkin, Texas) went 4-5 with three RBI and scored two runs as he finished an impressive week as he was a sizzling .667 (10-15) in four games, the 10-1 win at ETBU on Tuesday and the three games against the 'Roos, as he totaled six RBI, scored four runs, had two doubles, and a walk. He had three multi-hit performances in the four games including a 4-5 performance and a 3-4 effort, and is riding a season-best seven-game hitting streak.
Freshman 3B Clay Menard (Berwick, La.) went 3-4 with two RBI, a run scored, and a walk, and four players - senior CF Gary Hewitt (Cedar Park, Texas), Freshman OF Carson Livesay (Lafayette, La.), sophomore Cade LaBruyere (Iowa, La.), and senior SS Noah Koehmstedt (San Diego, Calif.) each had two hits. Junior 2B Jobee Boone (Opelousas, La.) went 1-5 with two runs scored and one RBI. Hewitt, Boone, and LaBruyere each stole a base.
Menard, LaBruyere, and Pitts each had a double and sophomore C McKenly McLaughlin (Georgetown, Texas) delivered a sacrifice fly in the six-run ninth inning after entering as a defensive replacement the inning before. 3B Mason Woodhouse collected two of Austin College's four hits and drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth that score the second and final run of the game for the 'Roos. 2B Tripp Thoms drove in the first run with a double earlier in the inning.
RBI groundouts by Boone and Forth in the first gave Centenary a 2-0 lead and a two-run single by Pitts and an error that allowed a run to score made it 5-0 after three. Menard's RBI single in the sixth made it 6-2 and then six runs on six hits in the ninth put the game out of reach. LaBruyere had an RBI double in the inning, Pitts had an RBI single, Menard had an infield single to score a run, Hewitt and Livesay each had RBI hits and McLaughlin had the sac fly.
The Diamond Gents finished the regular season scoring double digit runs in a game 10 times and posted 10+ hits in a game an impressive 21 times. They have done so in eight games in a row and posted 15+ hits in a game six times and did so in all three gamed of the series.
See the complete Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2022-23/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests. Please note that all dates and times are subject to change.
#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity
