SERIES PREVIEW: Baseball at No. 8 Centenary College (3/25-3/26)
MULTIMEDIA COVERAGE
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FIRST PITCH
The University of Dallas baseball team is back in action this weekend with its consecutive three-game conference road series on March 25-26. The Crusaders face No. 8 Centenary College starting with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday. The three-game set concludes Sunday also at 1 p.m.
Dallas is 8-15 overall and 2-4 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) play. The team is coming off its greatest offensive performance this season with 14 runs and 16 hits in a seven-inning victory (14-3) at Austin College last Sunday. That triumph salvaged a series win after falling in a twinbill on Saturday.
UD NOTES
- Jordan Stickler (Grand Rapids, Mich.) climbed to the top of the category leaders and now has team-bests in batting average (.348), hits (23), runs scored (21), and stolen bases (14).
- Stickler recorded a hit and scored a run in each game at Austin College, including a 5-for-5 with three runs and two RBI on Sunday. The outfielder swiped a pair of bases in two contests and now has four with that amount on the campaign.
- Stickler's performance earned him United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Player of the Week. He ranks 2nd in both the USCAA and SCAC for steals.
- Conrad Voss (Corona, Calif.) also notched USCAA Pitcher of the Week. The left-hander tied a season-high eight strikeouts over six innings in Sunday's win. Both victories this season for Voss have been in games he has eight strikeouts. Voss sits 2nd on the squad in innings pitched (29.2) and punch outs (30). His strikeout total is 5th in USCAA.
- Seth Hanson (Apache Junction, Ariz.) is second on the team in average (.324) and hits (22). He is tied with Nathan Patton (McKinney, Texas) in doubles (4).
- The duo lead in runs produced with Hanson having 16 and Patton 14. Mark Peterson (Cincinnati, Ohio) rounds out the top three with 12.
- Patton is the third player part of a trio north of hitting .300 with a .304-clip. The third baseman has smacked a hit in nine-of-12 contests. Patton is tied with JP Fasone (Englewood, Colo.) in hits with 21.
- Fasone is hitting .271, but leads the team in walks with 19. Stickler (16), Hanson (13), and Zach San Roman (10) all have been granted double-digits in free passes. The team has drawn 97 altogether.
- Dallas has stolen 46 bases altogether. Behind Stickler is Josh Abalos (Lewisville, Texas) with 10 and Fasone has nine. Colby Davenport (Crockett, Texas) and Paul Scioli (Lubbock, Texas) each have three.
- Ryan Hammonds (Cedar Hill, Texas) anchors the pitching staff with a 2.85 ERA, 41 innings pitched, and 35 strikeouts. His strikeout totals rank 3rd in USCAA and 2nd in SCAC.
SCOUTING THE GENTS
- Centenary is 20-3 and unblemished (6-0) in conference play.
- The Gents are rank eighth in the latest Baseball Coach Association/Collegiate Baseball and most recently knocked off number two University of Texas at Tyler 6-5 on the road.
- Centenary also broke into the top 25 on d3baseball.com's weekly poll at number 15.
- The most recent SCAC series was at home last weekend against Schreiner University. The Gents swept (10-6, 14-4 (8 inn.), and 10-0 (7 inn.) and have won 13 in a row dating back to February 19.
- This juggernaut offense has eclipsed double figures in runs 15 times and has accumulated 260 overall while batting .378 as a team.
- A trio of players lead the Maroon and White with Michael Schimpf clubbing a .467 averaging to lead the conference. He has 35 hits, seven doubles, three triples, three homers (3rd on team), 32 RBIs (tied 2nd on team), and 22 walks (team-high).
- Cody Crowder follows in the league rankings for batting average (.466). He is leading the squad in total knocks (41) and tied for first in triples (3). He is second in doubles (10) and tied second in runs driven in (32). He is second in two-baggers with 10.
- Ian Graham rounds out the top three with a .382 batting average and slots fifth in the SCAC.
- Zane Wilkinson is hitting .379 and has amassed a team-high 11 doubles.
- Chris Zapata is hitting .368 while clobbering league bests with seven round-trippers and 43 RBI.
- The team has been hit by a pitch 47 times.
- Kaleb Kirk is tied first in the SCAC in strikeouts (51), and second for earned run average (1.71) and wins (5). Teammate Matthew Devillier is above him in victories (6) to lead the conference. The top tandem have each surpassed 40 innings with 42 and 41.1, respectively.
- Cole Lavergne has the most saves in the league with four.
RECENT MATCHUPS
- Dallas is 8-10 in the overall series against the Gents.
- Last year when Centenary was ranked 18th, the Crusaders claimed a series win in Irving on two walk-offs. The lone setback was a one-run loss (4-3).
- Returners from the Dallas staff that pitched include Hammonds, William Marshall (Frisco, Texas), Eric Felchak (The Woodlands, Texas), and Abraham Griesbauer (Troy, Mo.).
- Peterson homered in the third game that series and Fasone had the game-winning hit.
- In 2015, Dallas was swept in three games at Shreveport (3-2, 1-0, and 8-4).
UP NEXT
Dallas has five straight non-conference games due up with two opponents before playing its remaining nine against SCAC teams. The Crusaders start with a familiar opponent in Dallas Christian College at home on Mar. 29. That date was moved back this week after originally being scheduled the 28th.
After that, a three-game series will be played at LeTourneau University April 1-2. The non-conference stretch ends on Apr. 4 at Dallas Christian.