Irving, Texas - The Centenary baseball team begins Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Sunday as the Diamond Gents are set to face the University of Dallas Crusaders in a doubleheader scheduled for Noon and 3 p.m. at the UD Baseball Facility.
Live stats and live video are available for the games at the links below:
Stats: CLICK HERE TO VIEW STATS
Video: CLICK HERE TO WATCH
The series will conclude on Monday at 2 p.m. with game three. The Diamond Gents (5-8) and Crusaders (12-3) were scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday with a single game on Sunday but the potential for inclement weather caused a change in the schedule.
Centenary aims to snap a five-game losing streak and is 4-4 on the road this season. The Diamond Gents lost three games last weekend in San Antonio – two against the University of Texas at Dallas and one to Trinity University. Centenary's losing streak began with an 8-7 loss against Chapman on Feb. 25 then the Maroon and White fell 5-3 in 11 innings on March 5 to UT-Dallas in their home opener and then went winless last weekend.
The Crusaders are off to their best start to a season in a decade and boast the conference's top pitching staff with an impressive 2.56 ERA which ranks eighth in the country in division III. Dallas is 7-2 at home this season but has lost two games in a row, falling 6-3 in 10 innings to Nebraska Wesleyan University on March 9 and then 8-7 on March 12 to Hardin-Simmons University. Centenary has won 10 of the last 11 meetings between the teams and is 26-10 all-time against Dallas. The Diamond Gents have not lost a conference series to the Crusaders since the 2016 season.
Centenary is hitting .325 as a team with an on-base percentage of .404 and is slugging .450. The Diamond Gents are averaging 7.3 runs per game and have hit nine home runs. They have 40 extra-base hits, 22 stolen bases, and have posted at least 10 hits in a game in 11 of 13 games this season. The Gents own the conference's top batting average and are the only SCAC team currently hitting .300 or better. They also rank in the top five in the conference in hits, runs scored, RBI, OBP, slugging, doubles, triples, home runs, total bases, and stolen bases. Their .325 batting average ranks 44th nationally in all of division III and they are tied for 26th in the country in hits (159).
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. The Diamond Gents secured the final first-place vote and finished with 51 total points and it is the highest predicted finish for Centenary since the Maroon and White were picked to win the title prior to the 2018 campaign. Dallas was picked to finish seventh.
Freshman 1B Alex Miller (Cypress, Texas), sophomore 3B Clay Menard (Berwick, La.), and sophomore OF Carson Livesay (Lafayette, La.) are all ranked in the top 10 individually in batting average in the conference, Livesay and Menard are also in the top 10 in runs scored, and senior RF Austyn Benoit (Welsh, La.) ranks second in the conference in RBI.
Sophomore LHP Cody Myers (Friendswood, Texas) leads the Centenary pitching staff as he ranks third in the conference with an impressive 1.33 ERA. He is 3-1 in five appearances (three starts) as he has allowed just three earned runs and 14 hits in 20.1 innings pitched with 14 strikeouts.
Centenary's first SCAC series at home is set for March 23-24 against Austin College. The Diamond Gents also face Southwestern University and Trinity at home and in addition to facing Dallas on the road they will play Schreiner University, the University of St. Thomas, and Texas Lutheran University.
Centenary's final road series of the regular season is at TLU in Seguin, Texas on April 19-20 and the Diamond Gents will wrap up the regular season at home against Trinity on April 26-27.
The 2024 SCAC Baseball Championship is scheduled for May 3-5 in Cleburne, Texas. Centenary has appeared in the SCAC Championship game five times in its history, winning it twice and finishing as runner-up in 2013, 2015, and 2018. The top four teams in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season qualify for the 2024 SCAC Tournament.
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.
#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity
