CONWAY, Ark. – The Centre baseball team entered today's doubleheader at Hendrix one game up on the Warriors in second place in the Southern Athletic Association. The Colonels made a statement with a doubleheader sweep, winning today's games by respective scores of 11-4 and 5-2, and improving to 19-7 overall and 9-2 in conference play.
 
Game 1: Centre 11, Hendrix 4
 
- Josh Cunningham led off the action with a base hit. After advancing to second on an error, consecutive singles by Ben Prather and Karson Thompson plated Cunningham to get the Colonels on the board first. With runners on the corners, an RBI groundout by Chase Austin scored Prather to give Centre an early 2-0 lead.
- Cunningham ignited another Centre rally in the second inning as he walked and stole second. With two outs, Prather ripped a base hit to left to make it 3-0. Thompson then doubled to left field to increase Centre's advantage to 4-0.
- The Colonels continued to pour it on in the third as Teddy Holloway and Matthew Maggard singled. A pair of Hendrix errors allowed a run to score and loaded the bases. Dillon Di Iorio then worked a bases loaded walk to drive in another run. Centre plated the third run of the inning on an RBI groundout by Prather to take a 7-0 lead.
- Hendrix finally got on the board with a pair of runs in the fourth, but the Colonels got one back in the fifth when Prather lifted one the other way for a solo homer, keeping the Colonels on top by an 8-2 margin.
- The Warriors kept chipping away at Centre's lead, scoring two more runs on an error and an RBI groundout, but Centre remained undaunted in the sixth. With two outs, Jamie Laframboise doubled to left field. Matthew Maggard then lined a base hit up the middle to put runners on the corners. Evan Weyler walked and the bases were loaded once again. The Colonels got their first run of the inning following a Hendrix balk. Cunningham then stepped up and lined a triple into the gap to score two more runs.
- Jess Miller and Cam Tegge came out of the bullpen to hold the Warriors scoreless the rest of the way, with Tegge recording the final out of the game on a strikeout to seal the deal on a win.
 
Game 2: Centre 5, Hendrix 2
 
- Just like in the first game, Centre got on the board first as a Hendrix error put Holloway on second base. Laframboise then smacked a double the other way to give the Colonels an 1-0 lead in the second.
- Hendrix rallied to tie the score on a sac fly in the third, but the Colonels answered bright back in the third. Prather was hit by a pitch to lead off, followed by a Thompson single. After the runners advanced, Holloway smashed a triple into the opposite field to score both runners and give Centre a 3-1 lead.
- Leading 3-2 in the sixth, Prather again kickstarted a Centre rally with a leadoff hit up the middle. Thompson got hit by a pitch and the runners advanced with two outs. A Hendrix error plated Prather to make it 4-2. Conner Jackson then made Hendrix pay for the error with a base hit to score Thompson and put the Colonels up by three.
- After a leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth, Prather retired the last six hitters to finish off the victory for the Colonels.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORES
 
- Centre managed 20 hits across the two games against a Hendrix pitching staff that had been holding opponents to a .244 average during conference play.
- Prather had an excellent doubleheader for the Colonels, going 3-5 at the plate with a team high three RBIs in game 1, including his first career home run, and then scoring a pair of runs while picking up a complete game victory in game 2, improving to 5-0 this season on the mound.
- The bottom of the Centre order came through in the clutch in game 2, with Holloway, Laframboise and Jackson responsible for all of the Colonels' RBIs in the win.
- Luc Morgan improved to 3-3 on the year with a victory in game 1.
 
NEXT UP
 
Centre will go for the series sweep at Hendrix on Sunday afternoon.