February 2, 2017

Baseball Selected Fourth in SCAC, Kicks off 2017 Campaign Friday

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - On the eve of the 2017 season opener, in a vote conducted by the Southern Collegiate Conference head baseball coaches, Centenary was selected to finish the season fourth in the conference.

Trinity - winners of both the SCAC and NCAA Tournaments - received 42 points and three first-place votes and is selected to win the Regular Season Conference Championship. The defending Regular Season SCAC Champions, Texas Lutheran, is right on the Tigers heels with 41 points and two first-place votes. Southwestern, with 35 points and two first-place votes, finished two points ahead of the Gents in the poll to finish third.

Dallas (18 points), Schreiner (15 points) and Austin College (12 points) round out the SCAC preseason poll.

Centenary leads the SCAC with four First or Second All-Conference performers returning from last year.

Leading the way is junior Kaleb Kirk and senior Michael Schimpf, who received First Team All-Conference accolades as a pitcher and outfielder in 2016, respectively. Schimpf, who received All-Conference recognition for the third-straight season in 2016, led the conference and finished 36th in the nation with a .425 batting average. He also finished third in the SCAC in runs (45) and ninth in hits (65).

Off the diamond, Schimpf was named an Academic All-American by CoSIDA.

Kirk tied the single-season Centenary record with nine wins in 2016.

Second Team All-Conference performers returning include senior infielder Aaron Quintanilla and junior catcher Chris Zapata. Zapata led the team and ranked fifth in the SCAC in both RBI's (43) and home runs (five). He also led the team with 16 doubles, ranking second in the conference.

From behind the dish, Zapata threw out .397 percent (29-of-73) of base runners attempting to steal to lead the conference.

Quintanilla finished the season fifth on the team with a .311 batting average. As a team, Centenary finished third in the conference with a .308 batting average.

Michael Schimpf also garnered Second Team All-Louisiana honors from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA), as well as All-Region honors from both the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and D3baseball.com. Zapata and Kirk were also honored by the ABCA as All-Region.

Juniors Jackie Allen and Ian Graham also return for 2017 after receiving All-Conference Honorable Mention recognition last season. Allen led the team and finished fourth in the conference with a 2.99 ERA, while Graham finished third on the Gents with a .336 batting average and 45 hits.

Centenary opens up the 2017 season Friday, February 3, when it takes on La Verne to kick off a four-game set in California. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. CST (3 p.m. in California). The Gents take on Redlands in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. (11 a.m. local) at Redlands Saturday, February 4.

The Maroon and White conclude the busy weekend Sunday, February 5, at #21 Occidental at 1 p.m. (11 a.m. in California).