Centenary Takes Two from 'Roo Baseball

SHERMAN, Texas - The Austin College baseball team dropped both halves of its doubleheader on Saturday against Centenary College, with the Gents taking game one 13-4 before handing the 'Roos a 16-1 defeat in game two. The 'Roos are now 4-6 overall and 0-3 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play.

Austin College got on the scoreboard first in game one, with a throwing error opening the door for a run by Jake Webster to make it 1-0 after the first frame. However, the Centenary bats got hot in the second, plating five runs in the inning and adding three more in the third to make it an 8-1 game. Austin College got one run back in the bottom of the third, with Justin Alphonse bringing Webster home on a sacrifice fly.

The Gents put two more runs across in the fourth, but Beau Beshires knocked in a run in the bottom of the inning to get Austin College on the board again and make it a 10-3 game. After one run in both the fifth and sixth for Centenary made it 12-3, Alphonse had another sacrifice fly, this time scoring Nick Flynn, to make it 12-4 after seven. That's as close as things would get, though, and Centenary tacked on one more run in the ninth to make it a 13-4 final.

Ryan Culp took his first loss of the season on the mound, surrending eight runs - six earned - on nine hits in 3.0 innings of work. The 'Roos were limited to three hits, with Cody Goggins going 2-for-4 to lead the way at the dish. Centenary was led by Ben Bridges, who went 2-for-5 with three RBI, while Preston Ludwick earned the win for Gents, giving up three runs - one earned - on three hits in 5.0 innings.

Austin College once again scored first in the second game of the day, with Alphonse scoring on a balk in the bottom of the second, but the Gents erupted for seven runs in the third and added two more in the fourth to take a commanding 9-1 lead. The Margin grew to 10-1 in the sixth, and in the seventh inning Centenary took advantage of five Austin College errors to push six more runs across and make it a 16-1 final.

Nick Flynn went 3-for-4 to lead Austin College at the plate, while Jake Trapani absorbed the loss, giving up nine runs on nine hits in 4.0 innings of work. Conner Poche got the win for Centenary, giving up an unearned run on six hits with eight strikeouts in 6.0 innings of action. Gary Hewitt went 4-for-4 to pace Centenary offensively.