MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Despite dropping only their fifth game this season, Trinity University held on to the top spot in the D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25. The Centenary College Gents also jumped four spots to No. 12 this week.
The D3baseball.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly. Full members of NCAA Division III are eligible.
Trinity dominated the first two games of the series against Schreiner University winning 11-1 and 15-2. The Mountaineers rallied on Sunday behind SCAC Pitcher of the Week, Kolby Kitchens, to down the Tigers 2-1. Trinity now sits at 25-5 on the season, and is sporting a 10-2 mark in conference play.
Trinity's bats are led by senior outfielder Jeremy Wolf who is batting .415, slugging .805 with 18 doubles, eight home runs and 40 RBI. Senior outfielder Andrew Waters has also been tough for opposing pitchers posting a .410 average, .390 OBP and a .782 slugging percentage driving in 29. Junior right-hander Troy Nelson posts a team-best 2.17 ERA on 47 strikeouts and has held opposing bats to a .215 average.
Centenary faced out-of-conference competition going 4-0 on the week. The Gents downed LeTourneau 9-5 on Tuesday before sweeping East Tex. Baptist last weekend. The Gents are 21-6 overall with a 6-3 conference record.
Centenary's bats continue to be led by junior outfielder Michael Schimpf who posts a .435 average, .602 slugging percentage and a .533 OBP. He also leads the team in runs scored (37) and hits (47). Dakota Brown has also been solid at the plate for the Gents posting a .383 average for a .479 OBP while scoring 25 runs. Sophomore pitcher Kaleb Kirk posts a team-best 2.50 ERA on 46 strikeouts and has held opposing batters to a .278 average.
Centenary hosts SCAC rival Southwestern University this weekend while the Tigers are set to take on McMurry and Hardin Simmons on Tuesday before a big SCAC series this weekend against Texas Lutheran.
