Millington, Tenn. – The Centenary baseball team split a non-conference doubleheader with the Rhodes College Lynx on Tuesday, falling 10-2 in game one and responding with an 11-2 win in game two which gave Centenary head coach Mike Diaz career win number 300 as the Diamond Gents opened their regular season at the USA Baseball Stadium Complex.
The Diamond Gents (1-1) waited an extra 72 hours and drove 300 miles to open their season after weather and conditions due to ongoing construction at Shehee Stadium, Centenary's home field, forced the series to be moved to the Memphis suburb.
Centenary and Rhodes met on the diamond for the first time in each other's history and it was a matchup of two teams with high hopes this season as both are receiving votes in the 2024 D3baseball.com/NCBWA Preseason Top 25 Poll. Centenary was picked to finish second in the conference this season in the preseason poll released on Jan. 31 based on balloting from the league's head coaches while the Lynx were picked to finish third in the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) this season.
Diaz, now in his 14th season with the Diamond Gents, became the all-time winningest coach in program history last season with his 292nd win on April 16, 2023 at home versus Schreiner University and is now 300-212-1, having passed former HC Ed McCann (1999-2010) for the all-time wins mark.
Game one recap: Rhodes 10 Centenary 2
All-American junior LHP Tyler Herrera (Spring, Texas) started on the mound for the Diamond Gents and lasted just an inning as he allowed four runs, all earned, on just two hits but walked three and did not record a strikeout. He faced eight batters, hitting one, and threw 35 pitches (13 strikes) as he took the loss to fall to 0-1. Sophomore RHP Aidan Reichek (Bellaire, Texas) came on in relief and went two innings as he gave up three runs, all earned, and four hits with a walk and a strikeout and allowed one home run. He faced 11 batters and threw 41 pitches, 25 for strikes.
Sophomore IF/P Jordan Hodges (Longview, Texas) made his second-career appearance on the hill as he threw three innings and allowed three runs, all earned, and three hits with one walk and four strikeouts. He allowed one home run and faced 14 batters, throwing 51 pitches (31 strikes). Freshman Kade Godfrey (Nacogdoches, Texas) was the fourth Gents' pitcher as he went 1.2 innings and allowed no runs on one hit with a walk and a strikeout. He faced seven batters and threw 26 pitches – 15 strikes. Freshman P Gavin Morrison (Geismar, La.) came in for Godfrey in the bottom of the eighth with two outs and retired the final batter as he threw two pitches in his Centenary debut.
Zach Sohosky (1-0) started for the Lynx and picked up the win as he went five innings and allowed one earned run and two hits with no walks and eight K's. He faced 17 batters, hitting one, and threw 63 pitches – 44 for strikes. Four Rhodes relievers followed that combined to allow just one earned run and seven hits covering four innings. Reid Lampert, Rhodes' second pitcher, went two innings and allowed the run – a solo home run to sophomore OF Carson Livesay (Lafayette, La.) in the fourth. Lampert allowed six hits and struck out three and did not walk a batter. He threw 36 pitches, 28 for strikes, and faced 11 batters.
The Lynx finished with 10 hits, four for extra bases, and drew six walks. They struck out six times, left six on base, and committed one error. The Diamond Gents had nine hits and did not commit an error but did not draw a walk while striking out 11 times and leaving seven on base.
Rhodes jumped out early with four runs in the first inning and added two more in the second and one in the third to lead 7-0. Rhodes scored two more in the fourth and tacked on a pair in the sixth. 3B Corbin Kinder finished 3-4 with a homer, a triple, three RBI, two runs scored, and a walk, 2B Myles Kruger went 1-4 with two RBI, and 1B Daniel Hicks was 2-4 with a solo homer.
CF Ben Burkhart was 1-3 with two walks, a double, a stolen base, and two runs scored, LF Quinn Blackman was 1-5 with an RBI groundout, two stolen bases, and a run scored, and RF Dante Messina finished 1-4 with an RBI single, a run scored, a stolen base and a walk. DH Eli Selby and C Malcolm Rohlfing combined for two RBI, two walks, and two runs scored.
Livesay and sophomore 3B Clay Menard (Berwick, La.) each had two hits for Centenary and five others - senior RF Austyn Benoit (Welsh, La.), senior SS Jobee Boone (Opelousas, La.), sophomore DH Lenny Forth (Flower Mound, Texas), sophomore CF Andrew Landry (Gonzalez, La.), and Sophomore 1B Collin Pitts (Lufkin, Texas) each had one. Forth had a double and Landry had a stolen base.
The Diamond Gents left two men on base in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings as Lampert and three other relievers escaped multiple jams. Livesay, who drove in both Centenary runs, delivered an RBI double in the sixth to score Menard but Landry was thrown out at home. Boone followed with a single to put runners at the corners with just one out but Pitts struck out swinging and Benoit grounded out to end the inning.
Game two recap: Centenary 11 Rhodes 2
The Diamond Gents wasted no time in shaking off their disappointing game one loss as they jumped on the Lynx for three runs in the top of the first and added one more in the second and added three more in the fourth to take a 7-0 lead. Centenary scored two more in the seventh and two final runs in the ninth while the Lynx avoided the shutout with single runs in the seventh and ninth.
Sophomore LHP Cody Myers (Friendswood, Texas) started and picked up the win for Centenary as he went five innings and did not allow a run on just three hits. Myers (1-0) walked one and struck out three as he faced 17 batters and threw 66 pitches (43 strikes). Four Centenary relievers followed and combined to allow just two runs, both earned, on five hits with three BB and eight K's.
Junior P Zachary Malone (Hallsville, Texas) relieved Myers and went 1.1 innings in his centenary debut. He allowed one earned run and two hits with two K's. He faced six batters and threw 19 pitches with 15 for strikes. Freshman P Logan Schmidt (Pearland, Texas) then came in and faced two batters in his collegiate debut and allowed a walk and a single.
Sophomore RHP Jacob Broussard (Houston, Texas) relieved Schmidt and slammed the door as he recorded consecutive strikeouts to leave the bases loaded and end the threat. He also pitched the eighth and walked one with four K's as he faced six batters and threw 25 pitches (17 strikes). Senior P Blaine Hardy (Shreveport, La.) pitched the ninth in his Centenary debut and allowed one earned run on two hits with one BB and a pair of K's. Hardy faced six batters and threw 28 pitches – 16 for strikes.
Centenary finished with 16 hits, drew five walks, played error-free ball, struck out seven times, and left 11 on base. Rhodes had eight hits, walked four times, struck out 11 times, left eight on base, and also did not commit an error. The Diamond Gents had five extra-base hits – two homers, two doubles, and a triple.
Livesay stayed hot after his 2-4 performance with a homer and two RBI in game one as he finished 4-5 with another long ball, three runs scored, and a walk. Forth went 3-4 with three RBI and a walk, Benoit was 3-5 with a double and a triple with three RBI and a run scored, and Menard went 2-5 with three runs scored and a walk. Senior C Jake Gonce (Katy, Texas) also homered and finished 2-5 with an RBI and a run scored, Pitts was 1-5 with an RBI, and Boone finished 1-4 with an RBI triple and scored three runs. Rhodes RF Charlie Meyer went 2-3 and six other players had one hit each.
Rhodes starter Noah Roland (0-1) took the loss as he allowed four runs, all earned, and three hits in two innings of work with two BB and one K. He allowed Gonce's homer and faced 13 batters, hitting a pair, and threw 49 pitches (29 strikes). Colby Slaughter came in for Roland and pitched two innings as he gave up three runs, all earned, and seven hits with no BB and four K. He faced 13 batters and threw 48 pitches (34 strikes). The final three Rhodes pitchers combined to give up four runs, all earned, and six hits in five innings with three BB, two K's, and a home run.
Pitts grounded out to short in the first to score Menard with Centenary's first run of the game and Forth delivered a two-run single to score Boone and Livesay. Gonce's homer in the second made it 4-0 and Benoit's two-RBI double and an RBI single by Forth in the fourth made it 7-0. Boone tripled home Livesay in the seventh and Benoit's infield single scored Boone for a 9-0 lead in the seventh. Livesay capped the scoring for Centenary with his two-run blast in the ninth to score Menard.
Centenary scored 10+ runs in a game for the 11th time since the beginning of last season and collected 10+ hits in a game for the 23rd time in that span.
The Diamond Gents will play three games in the Hendrix College Invitational this weekend (Feb. 16-17) in Conway, Ark. and then head to California to play Occidental College three times Feb. 23-24 and Chapman on Feb. 25.
See the complete Diamond Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2023-24/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.
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