Centenary baseball wins SCAC Championship and clinches NCAA tournament berth
CLEBURNE, Texas - CHAMPIONS! The No. 2 seed Centenary baseball team defeated the No. 4 seed Texas Lutheran Bulldogs by a score of 9-5 on Monday afternoon to win the 2024 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship at La Moderna Field.
The Diamond Gents (23-18) completed their memorable run through the loser's bracket by winning three-straight elimination games over three days to win their second tournament title in three years after claiming the title in 2022. Texas Lutheran finishes its season at 25-17. Centenary outlasted TLU 10-8 in 11 innings on Sunday to force Monday's decisive winner-take-all game.
Centenary has enjoyed incredible success in the event, winning previous titles in 2022 and in 2017 and has finished as runner-up three times (2013, 2015, 2018). The Diamond Gents opened the weekend with a 6-4 victory on Friday over Southwestern University, then fell 5-2 to TLU on Saturday. Centenary then responded with a 7-6 win over No. 1 seed and regular-season champion Trinity University that eliminated the Tigers that led to the consecutive wins over the Bulldogs.
The selection show is set for Monday, May 13 at 11 a.m. central as Centenary will find out its opponents and destination. The tournament starts with 16 regionals at school sites with each winner playing a super regional best of three series to determine the eight teams who will advance to the D-III World Series to be held at Classic Auto Group Park, Eastlake, Ohio. This suburb of Cleveland will be the seventh site to host the D-III World Series since the tournament started in 1976.
The playoff field consists of 60 teams. Forty-one (39) Pool A bids will be awarded to conference automatic qualifiers through May 15th. On May 16, the national selection committee decides who gets the two Pool B and 19 Pool C at-large bids. Want more on the bid selection process?
Regional Sites: Friday-Sunday, May 17-19 (Thursday-Saturday, May 16-18 if there is a Sunday no-play) - 60 teams, 14 regionals with four teams (double elimination), two regionals with two teams (best of five series)
Super Regionals: Friday-Saturday, May 24-25 - 16 teams, eight super regionals with two teams (best of three series)
Finals: Friday-Thursday, May 31-June 6 (Eight Teams). Site-Hosted by: Classic Auto Group Park, Eastlake, Ohio; Co-hosted by the North Coast Athletic Conference and the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission
D-III World Series format: The D-III World Series format has two four-team double-elimination pools with the winner of each pool meeting in a best-of-three series. This year, the schedule adds a practice day between Pod play and the Championship Series.
*PLEASE CHECK BACK LATER FOR A COMPLETE RECAP*
See the complete Diamond Gents' season schedule at GoCentenary.com.