GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - The #6 Centenary Gents begin its journey for a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference crown and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament this weekend, April 28-30. Centenary, the top seed for the second time in three years, kicks off the tournament Friday against fourth-seeded Southwestern at 1 p.m.
Tournament Web Site
Southwestern vs Centenary Live Stats | Video
The 2017 SCAC Tournament went to a neutral site and will be contested at QuikTrip Park, home to the Texas AirHogs minor league team in Grand Prairie, Texas (1600 Lone Star Parkway, Grand Prairie, TX 75050). Texas Lutheran, the second seed, plays third-seeded Trinity at 4:30 p.m. in the other first round game, with All-Conference award winners to be announced following the conclusion of day one.
Against the Pirates
Earlier this season, Centenary wrapped up an outright SCAC Regular Season Title with a sweep of Southwestern in Georgetown.
Junior Kaleb Kirk pitched a complete game, surrendering one run and four hits in the Gents 7-1 win on April 14.
With a doubleheader sweep with a 5-2 and a 12-2 win on April 15, the Gents claimed their second SCAC Regular Season Title in three years.
For their performances that weekend, Kirk won his fourth SCAC Pitcher of the Week accolade of the season, while Zapata won his third SCAC honor. Zapata also grabbed D3Baseball.com Team of the Week recognition after batting .769 (10-for-13) with three runs and nine RBI's against the Pirates. With six extra-base hits (four doubles, two home runs) he finished with a 1.538 slugging percentage.
For more information on their awards, click here.
The Records
Many individuals will be looking to move their names up in both the single-season and career record books.
The NCAA leader (by nine) in RBI's, junior Chris Zapata may have a chance to break both the single-season and career records for RBI's. With 63 RBI's on the season, the most in the regular season in the SCAC in at least a decade, Zapata needs just two RBI's to break the season record and seven to break the career Centenary record.
Not to be outdone, senior Aaron Quintanilla is ninth with 111 career RBI's.
Sophomore Matthew Devillier, who entered the season and career annals with six saves in 2016, made his mark in 2017 by breaking the season records for win (previously nine). He is 11-0 in 12 starts.
In the career wins' column, junior Kaleb Kirk sits third with 20 victories, two away from tying the career mark.
Finally, senior Michael Schimpf has made his mark in numerous categories. The career leader in hit by pitches with 50 (13 more than any other Gent), he also is in the top-10 for career batting average (sixth, .367), hits (third, 214), runs (second, 159), doubles (sixth, 33), triples (second, eight), total bases (fourth, 287), walks (eighth, 90), and stolen bases (10th, 37).
Season and Career Record List among current Gents
Look at the Tournament
Assuming no weather delays or cancellations, the Gents will play either third-seeded Trinity or second-seeded Texas Lutheran on Saturday (The Tigers and Bulldogs play at 4:30 p.m. Friday). Should the Gents win, they will play the winner of the other first-round game Saturday at noon. If they fall to the Pirates, the Maroon and White plays the loser of Trinity and Texas Lutheran Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
