SHERMAN, Texas - Centenary baseball (13-3) begins Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play Friday and Saturday, March 10-11, with a three-game set at Austin College (4-12). First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, while Saturday's doubleheader is set for 11 a.m.
With weather expected this weekend, times may change. Check GoCentenary.com, the Centenary Twitter account (@gocentenary), and the baseball twitter account (@centgents) for further updates.
Live Video | CollegeTVTicket
Live Stats | Friday - Saturday (Game 1; Game 2)
Perfect Game On the Rise
While Centenary continues to receive votes in the D3Baseball.com (28, the most among the three SCAC schools receiving votes), Centenary rose one spot to occupy the 15th spot, according to Perfect Game.
Per Perfect Game
"Over their last six games Centenary has scored a whopping 111 runs - that's 18.5 per contest. While those wins haven't been against the mightiest of opponents, it's important to note those the final boxscores could have been easily even more lopsided had the games not been called due to the mercy rule. In just one inning of a game Sunday the Gents crossed the plate 17 times. All but one of Centenary's starters is batting over .300 (the holdout is at .295) and the Gents are playing high caliber defense to boot with a .973 team fielding percentage.
"Centenary could make things ugly once again this weekend when they start SCAC play week and face Austin College, who currently is 4-11 overall. The Gents could go deep into the postseason if they keep compiling runs just as their conference mate Trinity did last year when they took home the nation title."
Runs A-Plenty
The Gents certainly felt proved "there's no place like home" in its first six home games of 2017. Against Rust in the first home game of 2017 on February 23, the Gents scored 28 runs, the most for a single game in program history.
The Maroon and White followed that up in the first game of a double header against Northland College March 5, scoring 17 runs in the third inning - believed to be the most runs in a single inning in program history.
In Centenary's last six games, all in Shehee Stadium, they have tallied 111 runs (18.5 runs per ballgame). With 35 offensive innings due to run-shortened games, that equates to 3.2 runs per inning.
The Gents already have scored 187 runs so far through 16 games, only 87 less than all of last season. Centenary crossed the plate 121 times in 19 games last season at home. The Gents are only 10 short of that in Shreveport in 2017, despite having played less than a third of that many games thus far.
Individually, three Gents rank in the top-10, six in the top-20, and eight in the top-50 in NCAA Division III baseball in terms of runs scored. Senior Aaron Quintanilla leads the nation with 25 runs, classmate Michael Schimpf is second with 23, while freshmen Zane Wilkinson (22) and Cody Crowder (19) rank fourth and 14th, respectively. Sophomore Andrew Russell and junior Cole Lavergne rank 18th with 18 runs scored, while juniors Chris Zapata (16) and Ian Graham (15) are 30th and 46th, respectively.
Crowder (31) leads the nation in hits, while Graham (26) is fifth. Crowder with nine and Graham with eight sit second and third in the nation in doubles. Zapata ranks first with 26 RBI's.
On the mound, sophomore Matthew Devillier is second in wins (four) while Lavergne ranks seventh in saves with three.
Team Rankings
With all the high rankings individually, Centenary leads NCAA Division III in runs (187), hits (204), doubles (45), triples (14), and sacrifice flies (13).
Moving up the Career Rankings
Senior Michael Schimpf already appears numerous time in the Gents record book. He currently ranks sixth all-time with a .364 batting average and is tied for third in hits (186). He ranks third in the career annals in runs scored (135) and tied for seventh in triples (six, with classmate Aaron Quintanilla), and eighth with 245 total bases.
Quintanilla ranks ninth with 39 career stolen bases.
In Other News
Two former Gents pitchers are currently at spring training, vying for a spot on their respective Major League Baseball teams.
Untouchable Seth Lugo is heating up Mets' Rotation Battle - NY Post, February 28
Effective against Lefties Helps James Hoyt's Case in Astros' Bullpen Competition - Chron.com March 9
Next Up
After the series at Austin College, Gents baseball plays 6-of-7 at home. Centenary hosts Schreiner on Friday, March 17, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
