Andrew Romanella, a veteran coach who has experience across a multitude of divisions, has been named the Centenary University baseball head coach it was announced by school officials.
Cole Heitzman's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh allowed the Centenary baseball team to earn a walk off win in game two and a doubleheader sweep of Rosemont on Monday.
TCNJ used 10 unanswered runs to earn a NJAC split with Ramapo but the Lions were not the only team on the comeback trail. Keystone traveled the comeback path to grab a game one win in their doubleheader sweep of Centenary.
SHREVEPORT, La. - Prior to the 2018 season, banners were put up on the outfield wall of Shehee Stadium to honor the Diamond Gents and their recent Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championships.
It did not take long for another one to be needed.
In a winner-take-all series finale with the #1 ranked team in the nation, the Gents rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to score nine of the last 10 runs of the ballgame as Centenary (24-14, 15-3 SCAC) knocked off Trinity (33-7, 14-4 SCAC) 9-3 on Sunday afternoon, April 29. The win gave Centenary its third SCAC Regular Season Championship in the last four seasons.
TYLER, Texas – The Gents gave up three runs in the bottom of the first and could not recover as Centenary’s (35-10) season came to an end with a 13-4 loss to Concordia (30-17) in an elimination game in the Division III Baseball Regional in Tyler, Texas.
The 35 wins for the Gents were the second-most for a single season and most since Centenary tallied 40 wins in the 1990 season.
TYLER, Texas – Junior Cole Lavergne sailed through the first four innings, but an error and two-out hits helped the Kingsmen score five runs in the fifth as third-seeded Centenary (35-9) fell to second-seeded Cal Lutheran (33-11) 8-2 in the winner’s bracket semifinal in the NCAA West Baseball Regional Friday night, May 19.
Cal Lutheran scored five runs in the fifth and one in the sixth, but a key two-out hit scored a pair of Centenary runs in the top of the seventh. With one out, freshman Cody Crowder singled up the middle and senior Scott Dwyer walked on four straight. After a groundball moved both runners into scoring position, sophomore Cameron Guin cleared the bases with a single up the middle.
TYLER, Texas - Despite being a southern team, the Gents out-west coasted team a squad from Oregon.
Junior Kaleb Kirk (11-3) broke the single-season Maroon and White record with his 23rd-career win and the Gents used small ball and key two-out hits to explode for four runs in the second as third-seeded Centenary (35-8) beat fourth-seeded Linfield (30-14) 12-1 in the first round of the NCAA West Baseball Regional at Tyler, Texas Thursday night, May 18.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – It was not exactly a work of art when the Gents lost game one in heartbreaking fashion to play the if necessary game, but the Maroon and White jumped on the Tigers from the first pitch in the decider.
The first three Gents in game two loaded the bases, and sophomore Chris Zapata blasted the first pitch he saw into the batter’s eye in centerfield to break the career record for RBI’s as Centenary (34-18) run-ruled Trinity (28-16) 13-3 to win the 2017 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Sunday afternoon, April 30 at AirHogs Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – After the game, senior Michael Schimpf received his diploma as a graduate of Centenary College. But before the ceremony, Schimpf made sure he made it a day to remember, even before he received his degree.
Schimpf hit a two run blast to left to begin the scoring in the first inning, and he added the go-ahead RBI double in the bottom of the fifth as the Gents (33-7) knocked off Trinity (26-15) 5-3 in the finals of the winner’s bracket on day two at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament at AirHogs Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – All the pressure is on the top seed in the first round of the conference tournament. Despite being outhit on Friday, April 28, the Gents escaped with the victory.
The Maroon and White trailed 1-0 early and the Pirates put the tying run on base in the ninth, but sophomore Cole Lavergne got the strikeout for his conference-leading eighth save of the season as Centenary (32-7) held on for a 6-4 win against Southwestern (20-20) in the first round of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament at AirHogs Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas.
GEORGETOWN, Texas – The #6 Gents knew they were all on their own this weekend to try to wrap up their second Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship in the last three seasons.
And just like in 2015, the Maroon and White took care of business on its own with a series sweep as Centenary (29-6, 15-3 SCAC) wrapped up the first seed in the Conference Tournament with a 5-2, game 1 win, taking the outright title with a vicotry in the nightcap against Southwestern (18-17, 7-8 SCAC) 12-2 in a doubleheader sweep Saturday afternoon, April 15.
GEORGETOWN, Texas – After a slow start offensively, the Gents bats found their groove in the late innings.
Junior Chris Zapata pounded out four extra-base hits, while senior Aaron Quintanilla broke the career record for triples as #6 Centenary (27-6, 13-3 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) wrapped up a top-2 seed in the Conference Tournament with a 7-1 win at Southwestern (18-15, 7-6 SCAC) Friday night, April 14.
SHREVEPORT, La. – The rubber match of the season between the #6 UT Tyler Patriots and #5 Centenary on Tuesday, April 11, has been cancelled and will not be rescheduled.
SHREVEPORT, La. – Did the Gents ever respond Saturday, April 8.
A day after falling out of first place in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference for the first time this season, the Maroon and White used a pair of complete-game pitching performances and never trailed on the day to reclaim the top spot in the SCAC as Centenary (26-6, 12-3 SCAC) took game one, 4-2, before completing the sweep of Texas Lutheran (20-12, 11-4 SCAC) with a 7-4 win in the nightcap.
SHREVEPORT, La. – It may not have been the big inning like both ballgames yesterday for the Maroon and White against the Crusaders, but a few small innings work also.
The Gents scored in half of the offensive innings and managed a hit in 7-of-8 frames, while junior Jackie Allen threw eight innings of three-hit, shutout baseball as Centenary (23-3, 9-0 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) pushed its program-best winning streak to 16 in an 8-0 with against Dallas (8-18, 2-7 SCAC).
SHREVEPORT, La. – The Gents used a 5-run first to take game one, 6-3, but #8 Centenary (22-3, 8-0 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) exploded for seven runs in the third inning of game two en route to a 10-0, seven-inning win in the nightcap against Dallas (8-17, 2-6 SCAC) Saturday afternoon, March 26.
TYLER, Texas – Down 4-1 in the third, it looked like the Gents may have a repeat of a loss in Tyler a month ago.
What did the Maroon and White respond with? Key two-out hits and 6.1 innings of relief from junior Cole Lavergne.
The #8 Gents scored five unanswered and held off the Patriots in the ninth as Centenary (20-3) knocked off #2 UT Tyler (18-4) 6-5 in Tyler Tuesday night, March 21.
SHREVEPORT, La. – The Gents scored in each of the first five innings of the game and overcame a two-run deficit in the third as #11 Centenary (17-3, 4-0 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) bested Schreiner (8-13, 0-1 SCAC) 10-6 Friday night, March 17.
SHERMAN, Texas – The Gents played a closer game than they are used to in the series finale, but the Maroon and White never trailed in 16 innings on the day as Centenary (16-3, 3-0 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) swept a doubleheader with a 12-0 win (seven innings) in game one and 9-6 in game two against Austin College (4-15, 0-3 SCAC).
SHREVEPORT, La. – Despite the steady rain falling all day, the Gents offense failed to cool off as they scored 31 runs as Centenary (13-3) took game one 19-2 and beat Northland College (0-2) 12-2 in a pair of run-ruled, seven-inning games Sunday, March 5.
Through six home games thus far and 35 offensive innings, Centenary has scored 111 runs (3.2 runs per inning).