(Story Courtesy of Centenary College Sports Information Department)
LAGRANGE, Ga. -- The Centenary baseball team dropped a doubleheader to the LaGrange College Panthers on Friday on day one of the 2022 NCAA Division III Championship, falling 7-3 in game one and 9-7 in game two at Cleaveland Field in Williamson Stadium.
The Diamond Gents (27-18) must win the final three games of the series over the Panthers (39-6) to advance to next weekend's super regional round.
Game One Recap: LaGrange 7 Centenary 3
The Panthers struck first with a run in the bottom of the first inning and added one more in the third to take a 2-0 lead. Centenary scored one in the top of the fourth but LaGrange responded with one of its own to take a 3-1 lead through four.
The Panthers then scored four times in the seventh to extend their lead to 7-1. Centenary scored two in the eighth to cut the deficit to 7-3 but LaGrange held on for the win.
Centenary out-hit LaGrange 10-9, but left seven on base, struck out seven times, and committed two errors. The Panthers also made a pair of errors, struck out four times, and left five on base.
Freshman LHP Tyler Herrera suffered his first loss of the season as he allowed seven runs, but just three earned, and nine hits in 6.2 innings of work. He walked two and struck out three. Herrera threw 90 pitches, 56 for strikes, and faced 32 batters. It marked the first time that Herrera allowed more than two earned runs in a game all season in his 16th appearance and ninth start.
LaGrange starter Baley Coleman (10-1) got the victory as he scattered 10 hits and allowed just the three earned runs with no walks and seen strikeouts. He faced 34 batters and threw 105 pitches (73 strikes). Tanner Chafin came on in relief of Coleman and pitched a perfect ninth.
Senior 1B Preston Ludwick, senior C Ben Bridges, senior 2B Tyler Erickson, and senior DH Tyler Welch each collected two hits to pace the Diamond Gents' offense. Junior SS Noah Koehmstedt and freshman RF Cade LaBruyere each had one hit.
Bridges hit a solo home run in the fourth and added an RBI single in the eighth. Erickson followed Bridges' run-scoring season with one of his own for the final two runs of the game for the Maroon and White. LaGrange was led offensively by 3B Joe Ruth and SS Cael Chatham who each had a game-high three hits. CF McKinley Erves was 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Ruth had an RBI and scored a run and Chatham finished with two RBI and a run scored. LF Gabriel Pallo went 1-4 with a run scored.
1B Jack Layrisson started the scoring for LaGrange with an RBI groundout in the first and Ruth drove Erves home in the third for a 2-0 lead. 2B Rhett Hebert delivered a sacrifice fly in the fourth to score Chatham, and Erves and Chatham delivered RBI and LaGrange also got another sac fly from RF Rhett Mixon for its four runs in the eighth inning.
Game Two Recap:LaGrange 9 Centenary 7
LaGrange, the visiting team in game two, scored a run in the top of the first inning as Ruth doubled in Mixon who had singled to lead off the game.
The Diamond Gents exploded for four runs in the bottom of the second to take a three-run lead. Bridges led off with a single, stole second and went to third on a wild throw. Erickson doubled down the left-field line to drive Bridges home to tie the game. LaBruyere reached on a fielder's choice and Erickson was thrown out at third base trying to advance. Senior CF Gary Hewitt singled to right and LaBruyere raced to third to put runners at the corners with one out.
Koehmstedt grounded a ball to third and Ruth threw wildly home trying to get LaBruyere out as he scored to make it 2-1 as Hewitt moved to third and Koehmstedt reached first. Senior RF John Beaudion then ripped an RBI single to left to dive home Hewitt and make it 3-1. Welch then drove home Koehmstedt with a sacrifice fly for the final run of the inning.
The Panthers answered with two runs in the top of the third as Ruth delivered an RBI single and Layrisson grounded into a double play which scored a run. Beaudion had a sacrifice fly to score LaBruyere in the fourth to make it a 5-3 game and after a scoreless fifth inning, the Panthers had a sac fly of their own by C David Smigelski to make it 5-4. Centenary scored a run on a wild pitch and Ludwick came through with an RBI single to make it 7-4.
LaGrange answered immediately in the top of the eighth as Erves singled to lead off the inning and went to third on a double by Ruth. Layrisson made it a one-run game with a two-RBI single. Centenary starting pitcher, junior RHP Parker Primeaux then retired Chatham and Smigelski and Layrisson moved to second on a wild pitch. Primeaux then walked DH Jared Aldridge and Layrisson oddly tried to steal third and was thrown out to end the inning. LaBruyere was hit by a pitch with one out in the top of the ninth and was caught stealing on a very close play that Centenary head coach Mike Diaz went on the field to question but to no avail.
Primeaux started the bottom of the ninth by striking out pinch-hitter Adam Dorn and Pallo swinging as he looked as strong as he had all game long despite being over 130 pitches at that point. Mixon then stepped to the plate and got down two strikes but he delivered a single to left field to keep the Panthers' hopes alive. Erves then ripped a perfectly-placed double down the left-field line deep into the corner to score a sprinting Erves to tie the game.
Ruth was intentionally walked and sophomore LHP Barrett Keene came on for Primeaux. He threw a wild pitch that moved runners to second and third and Layrisson singled to center to score two and make it 9-7. Junior RHP Hank Bennett followed Keene out of the bullpen and walked Chatham. Clark, who faced one batter and recorded a strikeout in game one, came on and retired Smigelski on a groundout for the third out of the inning.
The Diamond Gents, despite being stunned the events in the top half of the inning, remained focused and did not go down quietly in the bottom of the ninth. Sophomore Julien DeLeon pinch-hit to lead off the inning and struck out but Welch ripped a shot up the middle off of Chatham, the third Panthers' pitcher of the game, that Dorn could not field at short stop. Senior 3B Brady Robinson then ripped a solid single to center to put the tying runs on base. Ludwick came up and crushed a ball to right-center field that appeared to be headed to the gap but Mixon tracked it down for the second out. Bridges then flew out to right to end the game as the Panthers sealed the win and the 2-0 lead heading into Saturday's action.
Primeaux (9-6) suffered the loss as he went 8.2 innings and allowed nine runs, seven earned, and 10 hits with three walks and six strikeouts. He threw 100 strikes of his 139 total pitches and faced 39 batters, hitting one. Dalton Brooks started for the Panthers and went six innings allowing seven runs, five earned, on eight hits with a walk and four K's. Chafin (1-1) got the win after pitching one inning in game one as he went two innings in game two and allowed just one hit. Chatham pitched the ninth and allowed two hits and got one strikeout.
Centenary finished with 11 hits, left six on base, committed one error, and struck out five times while drawing one walk. LaGrange also had 11 hits, committed three errors, left five on base, walked four times, and struck out six times. Beaudion, Hewitt, Robinson, and Welch each had two hits and Beaudion had two RBI. The top four hitters in the LaGrange lineup did all the damage as they combined to go 10-18 with seven RBI and nine runs scored.
The LaGrange-Centenary winner will face the winner of the Orange, Calif. Region Hosted by Chapman University which features host Chapman, Pomona-Pitzer, Cal Lutheran, and Pacific (Ore.).
