Marshall, Texas - The Centenary baseball team recorded a dominant 10-1 victory over the East Texas Baptist University Tigers on Tuesday evening in a non-conference contest at Woods Field.
The Diamond Gents (19-13) earned a series split with the Tigers (27-10) after ETBU defeated the Maroon and White by a score of 7-5 last week in Shreveport. Centenary handed ETBU just its fourth home loss this season as the Maroon and White improved to 4-5 on the road.
Centenary extended its winning streak to three after its convincing doubleheader sweep in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference action on Saturday at Southwestern by scores of 6-0 in game one and 10-0 in seven innings in game two Centenary rebounded from a disappointing 6-5 loss on Friday night in the series opener to win their second-straight series following a home sweep of Schreiner.
Centenary pounded five Tigers pitchers for 15 hits and freshman LHP Cody Myers (Friendswood, Texas) and two relievers held ETBU to just six hits and the single run. The Diamond Gents scored double digit runs in a game for the eighth time this season and had 10+ hits for the 18th time, for the fifth game in a row, and posted 15+ hits for the third time.
Myers (2-1) picked up the win as he started and went five innings, allowing just one earned run on five hits with no walks and four strikeouts. He faced 20 batters and threw 88 pitches (57 strikes). Senior RHP Christian Diaz (Houston, Texas) relieved Myers to begin the sixth and pitched two perfect innings, blanking the Tigers while striking out one. He faced six batters and threw 10 pitches (10 strikes). Freshman RHP Jacob Broussard (Houston, Texas) worked the final two innings and allowed just one hit with two K's. He faced seven batters and threw 26 pitches – 15 strikes.
Braden Karnes (1-2) started for the Tigers and took the loss. He lasted just three innings and allowed two runs, both earned, on four hits with no BB and one K. He faced 13 batters, hit one, and threw 39 pitches (24 strikes). Rece Gustafson followed him and allowed three runs, one earned, on three hits with a walk and allowed a homer in an inning of work.
Matthew Irwin was the Tigers' third pitcher of the night and faced eight batters in his 0.2 IP and allowed five runs, none earned, and four hits with a BB and a K. Cole Godkin pitched 3.1 innings and did not allow a run on two hits with a BB and a K. He faced 13 batters and threw 51 pitches (33 strikes). Ben Burroughs pitched the ninth and did not allow a run on two hits with no BB and one K.
Freshman LF Carson Livesay (Lafayette, La.) and senior CF Gary Hewitt (Cedar Park, Texas) led the way with three hits each and freshman 1B Collin Pitts (Lufkin, Texas), junior RF Austyn Benoit (Welsh, La.), and sophomore C McKenly McLaughlin (Georgetown, Texas) each had two hits.
Livesay, Hewitt, and McLaughlin each finished with two RBI and Benoit went 2-5 with a solo homer. Pitts was 2-3 with two runs scored and a walk, and freshman 3B Clay Menard (Berwick, La.) was 1-3 with a walk and a run. Freshman DH Lenny Forth (Flower Mound, Texas) finished 1-5 with an RBI and senior SS Noah Koehmstedt (San Diego, Calif.) went 1-5 with two runs scored.
The Tigers were led by LF Bean Lea and 3B Jacob Evangelista as they were a combined 4-7. Lea helped ETBU avoid the shutout with a solo homer in the fifth and Evangelista stole two bases. 2B Carson Wilson and 1B Jase Jones had the only other hits for the Tigers as Jones singled in the second and then Wilson singled in the eighth.
Following Lea's homer to lead off the bottom of the fifth, the Tigers managed just two base runners the remainder of the game. ETBU made three errors, struck out seven times, and left five on base while not drawing a walk. Centenary finished with two walks, played error-free ball, only struck out four times, and left nine on base.
Forth's groundout scored Livesay in the first for a 1-0 lead and an RBI groundout by Hewitt in the third made it 2-0. Benoit greeted Gustafson with a homer to start the fourth and the Diamond Gents added two more in the frame as an error allowed one run to score and Livesay had a sacrifice fly to make it 5-0.
Centenary then scored five times in the fifth to put the game away. McLaughlin had a two-run single, Livesay had an RBI single, Hewitt had an RBI single, and Livesay scored on a passed ball. Lea's solo shot in the fifth off of Myers helped the Tigers avoid the shutout.
The Diamond Gents return to action this weekend and return to conference play for their final regular-season series at Austin College.
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.
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