Baseball Set To Face Concordia In SCAC Tournament Opener On Thursday
The No. 6 seed Centenary baseball team will face the No. 3 seed Concordia University Tornados in the opening round of the 2026 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship on Thursday at 11 AM at La Moderna Field.
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Cleburne, Texas - The No. 6 seed Centenary baseball team will face the No. 3 seed Concordia University Tornados in the opening round of the 2026 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship on Thursday at 11 AM at La Moderna Field.
Live stats and live video are available for the game at the links below:
Stats: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2025-26/boxscores/20260430_09rj.xml
Video: https://www.flocollege.com/live/249561
Tickets: https://www.tixr.com/groups/railroaders/events/scac-tournament-186076
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL: https://scacsports.com/tournament/spring/baseball/26championships/index
TOURNAMENT SUCCESS: The Diamond Gents have enjoyed incredible success in the event, winning previous titles in 2024, 2022 and in 2017 and finished as runner-up three times (2013, 2015, 2018). The 2024 and 2022 titles were in Cleburne and the 2017 championship was claimed in Grand Prairie, Texas.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS CONCORDIA: The Diamond Gents and Tornados have played eight times with Concordia winning six of the eight meetings. Centenary won two of three earlier this season in Shreveport. The Tornados swept the Diamond Gents in Austin, Texas last season – Concordia's first in the SCAC.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE TORNADOS: Concordia, which advanced to the NCAA regional final a season ago after finishing runner-up at the SCAC Tournament Championship, was the preseason league champion selection this season. The Tornados totaled eight first-place votes to top the coaches' poll with 116 points before finishing third.
Concordia is hitting .301 as a team with 28 home runs and has a team ERA of 5.05.
Landon Hyle and Kalen Clark have been a dynamic duo this season as they have combined for 101 hits, 65 RBI, 26 doubles, and 14 home runs. Hyle is hitting .360 and Clark is at .353.
Jake Runnells is the team leader in ERA (2.42) in 18 appearances. Rowdy Hoadley has made a team-high 11 starts Ralph Wallace III leads the staff in wins with six.
CENTENARY SEASON RECAP AND STANDOUT PLAYERS:
Centenary was picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll and finished sixth. But, despite meeting preseason expectations the Diamond Gents had their work cut out for them late in the season to qualify for the tournament.
The Diamond Gents rebounded from an 0-3 start to conference play to go 16-11 the rest of the way including winning five of its final six conference series. Centenary stood at 4-8 in league play after losing a home series to LeTourneau University and then took two of three at the University of Dallas, won two of three at home against Austin College, and then won consecutive series on the road at regular season champion Texas Lutheran University and McMurry University. After losing a home series to the University of St. Thomas, the Diamond Gents finished strong by sweeping the University of the Ozarks last weekend at home to clinch a berth to Cleburne.
The Diamond Gents were on fire offensively last weekend, scoring 37 total runs and banging out 35 hits along with six doubles and five home runs which included a pair of grand slams. Centenary opened the series with a 6-1 win and followed that with a 15-1 win in seven innings and finished with a 16-6 run-rule victory in seven innings.
PITCHING STAFF:
Freshman RHP Garritt Romero (Manvel, Texas) tossed his first-career complete game in the 6-1 win over the Eagles last weekend which set the tone for the Diamond Gents' series sweep. He allowed just one earned run in his nine innings of work on five hits with a BB and four K's. He faced 32 batters and threw just 76 pitches with 49 for strikes. He was named the SCAC Pitcher of the Week on Monday. Romero is 2-2 this season with a 3.63 ERA in 12 appearances and 11 starts. In a team-high 74.1 IP he has allowed 92 hits and 37 runs (30 earned) with 19 BB and 35 K.
Sophomore RHP Treyson Martin (Huffman, Texas) was the winning pitcher in game two of the series last weekend and has been one of the conference's top pitchers this season as he is tied for the lead league in wins and just outside the top 10 in ERA. Martin is 8-1 with a 4.37 ERA in 22 appearances and four starts. In 57.2 IP he has allowed 57 hits, 29 runs (28 earned) and 24 BB with 35 K.
He was named the SCAC Pitcher of the Week on April 13 after he had a superb weekend on the mound to lead them to a series win on the road at McMurry. He was the winning pitcher in both games of a doubleheader sweep on the first day of the series, highlighted by his first-career complete game in game two of the twin bill. Martin worked a total of 11 IP and allowed just one earned run and six hits with two walks and six strikeouts. He came on in relief in game one of the DH and went the final two innings and tossed a pair of scoreless, hitless frames. In his CG he recorded a career-best six K in a career-high nine innings.
Sophomore P Coen Laroux (Woodworth, La.) is 6-3 with a 3.35 ERA in 19 appearances. He has thrown 37.2 IP and has allowed 32 hits and 17 runs (14 earned) with 23 BB and 45 K.
Centenary is hitting .286 as a team with a .398 on-base percentage and slugging .391 as a team with 21 home runs. The Diamond Gents have 380 hits, scored 262 runs, 233 RBI, 65 doubles, six triples, 191 walks, 69 hit by pitches, 60 stolen bases, and 18 sacrifice flies. The Diamond Gents have a .967 fielding %
Senior RHP Jacob Broussard (Houston, Texas) is 3-5 with a 6.63 ERA in 16 appearances and 11 starts, sophomore LHP Roman Ardoin (Lumberton, Texas) is 1-3 with a 7.36 ERA in 13 appearances and 10 starts, sophomore LHP Carson Dingler (Chandler, Texas) is 0-2 with a 7.58 ERA in 15 appearances, and sophomore RHP Ray Busch (New Orleans, La. ) has a 3.95 ERA in seven appearances and has been a reliable option late in the season, covering 13.2 IP and six of his seven outings have come in conference play.
OFFENSE:
Senior IF Clay Menard (Berwick, La.) leads the team in batting average (.336) and walks (24) and has 39 hits, 22 runs scored, 17 RBI, and three doubles. His .451 OBP is a team high and he is slugging .362. Menard had nine multi-hit performances this season and was on fire last weekend, as he went 6-10 with seven RBI in the sweep over Ozarks.
Sophomore CF Blaine Birkelbach (Pearland, Texas) is tied for the first in hits (47), third in RBI (30), and has three home runs, six doubles, 30 runs scored, and 21 BB. Birkelbach is hitting .301 with a .405 OBP and is slugging .391. He has 13 multi-hit games and went 4-11 last weekend with two home runs, six walks, and six RBI. Birkelbach hit a grand slam and a solo home run. Sophomore RF Noah Paulson (El Lago, Texas) is tied with Birkelbach for the team lead in hits (47) and leads the team in RBI (32) and doubles (14). He also has 27 runs scored, two home runs, and 17 BB and is hitting 297 with a .371 OBP and is slugging .424.
Freshman 1B Ethan Hopkins (Baton Rouge, La.) is a candidate for SCAC Freshman of the Year as he has had a superb rookie season. He has played in all 40 games and is fourth in the conference in home runs (7) and seventh in RBI (37). Hopkins is second on the team in hits (46), leads in runs scored (31), and has nine doubles, and 20 BB. He is hitting .305 with a .401 OBP and is slugging .503. He has 16 multi-hit games and was 6-10 in the Ozarks series with three RBI. Hopkins' seven homers are tied for the fourth-most in a single season in the division III era (2012-present) in program history.
Junior SS Vance Sartor (Prescott Valley, Ariz.) has been an impact player in his first season as he is tied for second on the team in hits (46) and has 30 RBI, 20 BB, nine doubles, two triples, two homers, and 11 multi-hit games. He is batting .324 with a .424 OBP and is slugging .458. Junior LF Bryce Bienvenu (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) is hitting .329 (.448 OBP/.459 slugging) as the Diamond Gents' primary left fielder. He has 28 hits, 14 RBI, eight multi-hit games, 12 BB, six doubles, 19 runs scored, a triple, and a homer.
Sophomore DH Turner Mclelland (Minden, La.) has had a big season for the Diamond Gents as he is hitting .321 with a .480 OBP and is slugging .564. He has 25 hits, 20 RBI, 14 BB, four doubles, three triples, and three homers. He has seven multi-hit games and had a big series at the plate against Ozarks. Mclelland had a career day in the 16-6 run-rule win on Saturday as he went 2-3 with a pair of home runs, including his first-career grand slam, and six RBI with three runs scored and a walk. Mclelland belted his grand slam in the fifth inning and followed with a two-run homer in the sixth. His six RBI are tied for the second-most in a game in Centenary program history in the D3 era and his two homers in a game are tied for first.
Garritt Romero, in addition to his impressive work om the mound, has played third base and DH and is hitting .289 (.324 OBP/.351 slugging) with 28 hits, 16 RBI, 22 runs scored, three doubles, and a home run with eight multi-hit games.
Sophomore 2B Aron Gillum (Shreveport, La.) is hitting .242 (.387 OBP/.337 slugging) with 24 hits, 13 RBI, 17 BB, two homers, three doubles, 18 runs scored and six multi-hit games.
Head Coach Mike Diaz, in his 16th season, is the all-time wins leader in program history, and is an impressive 359-274-1 with the Maroon and White and 182-113 in conference play (One season in Summit League and 13 seasons in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference).
The veteran coach has led the program to three NCAA Tournament appearances, four SCAC regular season championships, and three SCAC Tournament titles. Diaz became the all-time winningest coach in program history with his 292nd win on April 16, 2023 at home versus Schreiner University, having passed former HC Ed McCann (1999-2010) for the all-time wins mark.
Diaz moved into third-place all-time in conference history with 144 SCAC regular-season wins with a win on April 20, 2024 against Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, Texas, passing Jim Mallon of Southwestern. Diaz won his 300th game on Feb. 13, 2024 in Centenary's season-opening win over Rhodes College. His 359 total wins are sixth-most in league history.
The Diamond Gents have notched ten 20-plus win seasons since 2013 and won 13 or more conference regular-season games in four-consecutive seasons from 2021-24. The Diamond Gents have finished first, second, or third in the conference in every season except three (fourth – 2021 and sixth in 2024 and 2026) since joining the SCAC in 2013.
See the complete Diamond Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/bsb/2025-26/schedule
For more information or to donate to Centenary athletics and the baseball program, visit gocentenary.com/gocentenary/C_Club.
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