Shreveport– The Centenary baseball team earned a doubleheader split with the University of St. Thomas Celts on Saturday in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play, falling 5-3 in game one and rebounding with a 9-5 with in game two at Shehee Stadium.
The series opener on Friday night was postponed due to rain and is unlikely to be made up. The Diamond Gents improved to 13-11 overall and 5-6 in SCAC play while the Celts are 13-14 and 3-8 SCAC.
Game 1 Recap: St. Thomas 5 Centenary 3
The Diamond Gents took a 1-0 lead after an inning, the Celts tied it in the top of the second, and then Centenary regained the lead with a run in the bottom half. That 2-1 score stood until the Celts scored three times in the fifth to take a 4-2 lead.
Centenary scored once in the bottom of the fifth but St. Thomas responded with a run in the top of the sixth and three scoreless innings followed as the Celts held on for the win.
The Diamond Gents finished with six hits and made two errors. They did not draw a walk, struck out four times, and left three on base. The Celts had seven hits, also made two errors, drew three walks, struck out 12 times, and left six on.
All-American sophomore LHP Tyler Herrera (Spring, Texas) started for Centenary and suffered the loss to fall to 3-4. He went five innings and allowed four runs, three earned, and six hits with three walks and nine strikeouts. He faced 23 batters and threw 105 pitches (64 strikes). Chris Parsons (4-4) started on the mound for the Celts and picked up the complete-game victory. He allowed three runs, two earned, and six hits in his nine innings of work with no walks and four K's. He faced 33 batters and threw 101 pitches – 73 for strikes.
Freshman RHP Jacob Broussard (Houston, Texas) relieved Herrera and pitched two innings. He allowed one earned run on one hit with no walks and two K's. He hit one batter of the eight he faced and threw 35 pitches (27 strikes). Freshman RHP Aidan Reichek (Bellaire, Texas) also pitched two innings and did not allow a run or a hit. He hit one batter and struck out one. He faced seven batters and threw 30 pitches (19 strikes).
Freshman LF Carson Livesay (Lafayette, La.) and freshman 3B Clay Menard (Berwick, La.) each had two hits to pace the Centenary offense. Menard had an RBI groundout in the second and an RBI single in the fifth. Senior SS Noah Koehmstedt (San Diego, Calif.) went 1-3 with a run scored and sophomore RF Cade LaBruyere (Iowa, La.) reached on an error in the bottom of the first for Centenary's first run of the game and also stole a base. Sophomore Zachery Van Gorkom (Shreveport, La.) was 1-4 with a run scored.
C Mason Seay was 2-4 with two runs scored for the Celts and stole three bases. He also scored the Celt's final run of the game, coming home on a balk by Broussard. LF Kyle Bearden went 1-3 with a run scored, a walk, and a stolen base and RF Cameron McClure was 1-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Jason Brown was 1-3 with an RBI and a stolen base.
Game 2 Recap: Centenary 9 St. Thomas 5
Centenary scored once in the bottom of the first, added another run in the third, and then scored three runs in both the fourth and sixth innings to earn the DH split. The Celts scored one in the fourth, two in the fifth, and single runs in the seventh and eighth.
Senior RHP Parker Primeaux (Lake Charles, La.) picked up the win for the Maroon and White as he started and went six innings to improve to 4-0 on the season. He allowed four runs, all earned, and 10 hits with two walks and three K's. He faced 29 batters and, hitting two, and threw 114 pitches (71 strikes).
Reichek came in and pitched 1.2 innings, facing seven batters and allowing an earned run on three hits with one K. He threw 22 pitches (15 strikes). Freshman LHP Cody Myers (Friendswood, Texas) recorded his first-career save as he went the final 1.1 innings and allowed no runs on two hits with two walks and two K's. He faced eight batters and threw 31 pitches (16 strikes).
Landon Murray (3-4) started and took the loss for the Celts. He went four innings and allowed five runs, all earned, and seven hits with two walks and one K. He faced 22 batters and threw 68 pitches (47 strikes). Kadin Munson relieved him and went the next three innings, facing 14 batters and throwing 52 pitches (30 strikes). He allowed three runs, none earned, and two hits with two walks and three K's. Kameron Craig pitched the final inning and allowed one earned run on two hits with one BB and one K. He faced five batters and threw 17 pitches – 9 strikes.
Centenary pounded out 11 hits and drew five walks. The Diamond Gents played error-free ball, only struck out five times, left eight on base, and stole three bases. The Celts had 15 hits but committed four costly errors and left 12 on base. They drew four walks, stole two bases, hit into a pair of double plays, and struck out six times.
Junior 2B Jobee Boone (Opelousas, La.) finished with a game-high three hits as he went 3-4 with four RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base. Senior CF Gary Hewitt (Cedar Park, Texas) went 2-5 with a run scored, and Livesay was 1-4 with a walk and three runs scored. LaBruyere finished 1-3 with a run scored, a walk, and a stolen base and freshman DH Lenny Forth (Flower Mound, Texas) was 1-4 with an RBI and a walk.
Junior C Jake Gonce (Katy, Texas) was 1-4 with a run scored and a stolen base, Menard finished 1-3 with an RBI, a run scored, and a walk, and Van Gorkom had one hit.
Brown, McClure, and Seay all finished with two hits. 1B Jeffery Williams was 2-5 with three RBI and CF Dylan Lamb was 2-4 with a run scored. Bearden went 1-4 3B Dillon McKee was 2-4 with an RBI and a walk.
Forth delivered an RBI single in the first to score Boone and Boone came through with an RBI single of his own in the third for a 2-0 lead. McKee's RBI double in the fourth cut the Celts' deficit to 2-1 but Centenary extended its lead to 5-1 with three runs in the fourth. Menard had an infield single, Boone had an RBI groundout, and Livesay scored on a passed ball.
Three more runs for the Maroon and White in the sixth put the game away. Hewitt reached on an error and Gonce scored, Boone ripped an RBI double down the right-field line to score Hewitt, and Van Gorkom reached on an error that allowed Boone to score.
Williams had another RBI double for the Celts in the eighth and they scored a second run on a wild pitch, but Boone drove in his fourth run of the game with a single to score Livesay and make it 9-5 in the bottom half of the inning.
Myers worked through an adventurous top of the ninth where the Celts threatened but did not score. McClure singled to center to lead off the frame. He then struck out both Williams and Seay swinging and the Diamond Gents were on the cusp of the win. But, pinch-hitter Brandon Madden walked. He and McClure then stole second and third and McKee drew a walk to load the bases. Erik Garza then pinch-hit and Myers got him to ground out to Boone to seal the win and leave the bases loaded.
Centenary will now play its final home conference series of the regular season next weekend as the Schreiner University Mountaineers come to town for a three-game weekend set, beginning on Friday, April 14 at 6 p.m. The teams will play a DH on Saturday at 1 and 4 p.m. and the Diamond Gents' senior class will be honored following the conclusion of the 4 p.m. game.
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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