SHREVEPORT, La. – The Maroon and White were able to get people on base and into scoring position thanks to 11 hits, but the Gents left 13 runners stranded as #12 Centenary (17-4, 6-1 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) fell to #1 Trinity 11-4 Friday night, March 25.
Senior Holden Novak (4-2) struck out the side in the top of the first, but the Tigers struck for six runs in the second and never trailed. However, Centenary cut the deficit to 6-4 thanks to timely, two-out hitting in the bottom of the third. With two down and no one on, sophomore Chris Zapata singled to right. Freshman Cameron Guin followed with a single through the right side, and junior Aaron Quintanilla walked to load the bases. Sophomore Cole Lavergne followed with a two-RBI single up the middle, but the centerfielder overran the ball and allowed Quintanilla to score and Lavergne to move to second.
Zapata finished the game with a hit in all four at-bats with a run scored.
With a runner on second, senior Dakota Brown walked and junior Scott Dwyer laid down a bunt single. However, the pitcher overthrew first base and allowed Lavergne to score to cut the deficit to two.
However, the Gents could not score the rest of the game as Trinity scored one in the fifth and sixth and three in the seventh for the seven-run win.
Junior Michael Schimpf led off the game with a single to extend his hitting streak to 15 games. With a single later in the game, he now has seven-straight, multi-hit games. Guin and Lavergne also added a pair of hits.
With one out in the second, the top-ranked team in the nation struck for six runs. With one out, Jose Santos singled just past the reach of the shortstop. Carter McEachern walked before Nick Jewett emptied the bases with a double. Andrew Waters later hit a three-run home run, his fourth of the season, to open up a Trinity 5-0 lead. Waters finished the game 2-for-4 with four RBI's and a run scored.
A wild pitch and a topper that went five feet by Jeremy Wolf scored the Tigers sixth run.
Novak, who got through the fourth, looked like he might have an easy fifth, but allowed Santos to reach on a double when he skyed a ball to left that fell in after it got lost in the lights. Santos finished the game with four hits, including two double, in five at-bats.
Novak did not get out of the sixth when a passed ball allowed Trinity's eighth run to score. He took the loss for the Gents, allowing eight hits and eight runs (seven earned) with three walks and four strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work.
Brown allowed three runs and five hits as the Tigers opened up an 11-4 lead after seven.
Gianfranco Filippini picked up his first win of the season, allowing two hits, a walk and a hit by pitch in 2.1 innings of scoreless relief.
#12 Centenary and #1 Trinity will conclude the series Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at noon.