Baseball Edged 4-3 By Concordia In SCAC Tournament Opener
The No. 6 seed Centenary baseball team was edged 4-3 by the No. 3 seed Concordia University Tornados in the opening game of the 2026 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship on Thursday at La Moderna Field.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 1 |
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0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 | 13 | 0 |
Cleburne, Texas - The No. 6 seed Centenary baseball team was edged 4-3 by the No. 3 seed Concordia University Tornados in the opening game of the 2026 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship on Thursday at La Moderna Field.
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL: https://scacsports.com/tournament/spring/baseball/26championships/index
Centenary finished with 10 hits, three walks, five strikeouts, committed one error, and left six on base. Concordia had 13 hits, walked four times, struck out twice, had no errors, and left 12 on base.
Freshman RHP Garritt Romero (Manvel, Texas) started on the mound for Centenary and took the loss as he went seven innings and allowed four runs, all earned, on 11 hits with two BB and two K. He faced 35 batters and threw 102 pitches with 64 for strikes.
Rowdy Hoadley (3-2) started and got the win for the Tornados as he went five innings and allowed two runs, both earned, on eight hits with four BB and two K. He faced 23 batters and threw 88 pitches (49 strikes). Austin Pryor picked up the save as he was outstanding in relief as he allowed just one earned run and two hits in four innings with one BB and three K. He faced 13 batters and threw 60 pitches – 35 strikes.
The Diamond Gents opened the scoring with a single run in the top of the second as senior 3B Clay Menard (Berwick, La.) led off the inning with a double to left field and sophomore 2B Aron Gillum (Shreveport, La.) laid down a sacrifice bunt to move him into scoring position. Senior C Caleb Ickes (Prairieville, La.) singled up the middle to score Menard to make it 1-0. Sophomore CF Blaine Birkelbach (Pearland, Texas) then lined into a double play to end the inning.
Centenary then threatened again in the third as sophomore DH Turner Mclelland (Minden, La.) singled to start the inning and sophomore RF Noah Paulson (El Lago, Texas) followed with a single to put runners at first and second. Freshman 1B Ethan Hopkins (Baton Rouge, La.) flew out to right and Mclelland advanced to third. The Tornados escaped the jam as the Diamond Gents ran into a double play on the basepaths as Paulson was caught at second and Mclelland was nailed at the plate to end the inning.
The Tornados then took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the third as they scored all three runs with two outs. Jett Warner had an RBI infield single to tie the game and Jake Townsend had a two-run single to make it 3-1.
The Diamond Gents responded immediately in the fourth as junior LF Bryce Bienvenu (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) led off with a double to left field and junior SS Vance Sartor (Prescott Valley, Ariz.) grounded out to move Bienvenu to third. Menard drove him home with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 3-2. The Tornados added a run in the bottom of the fourth as Louis Alonzo delivered a two-out single to right field to make it 4-2.
Centenary threatened again in the fifth as Birkelbach walked to lead off the inning and Mclelland followed with a double to put runners at second and third with no outs. Paulson then hit a smash to third base and Jett Warner threw to the plate to cut down Birkelbach at the plate and then Hopkins grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Paulson singled to lead off the eighth inning but Hopkins again grounded into a DP. Bienvenu hit a solo home run to cut the Diamond Gents' deficit to 4-3 but Sartor flew out to end the inning. Concordia threatened to add to its lead in the bottom half of the eighth as sophomore RHP Ray Busch (New Orleans, La.) relieved Romero. Kolten McDaniel grounded out to third and Samuel Ortiz singled to the pitcher and sophomore RHP Treyson Martin (Huffman, Texas) came in for Busch.
Louis Alonzo then singled to center field and Ortiz moved to second. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third and Kalen Clark walked to load the bases. Martin then escaped the jam as he got Landon Hyle to ground into a double play to end the inning.
Mclelland led the Centenary offense as he went 3-4 with two doubles and Bienvenu and Paulson each had two hits. Bienvenu, along with his solo home run, also walked twice and scored two runs. Birkelbach, Menard, and Paulson each walked once and Gillum, Ickes, and Menard each had one hit.
Alonzo went 4-5 with one RBI and one run, Townsend went 2-4 with two RBI and Logan Smith finished 2-4 with a run. Five other Tornados each had one hit.
UP NEXT:
Centenary will face the loser of the Hendrix-McMurry game on Thursday evening at a time TBD.
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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