The Louisiana College baseball team will play a home-and-home four game series on Friday and Saturday against Centenary College of Shreveport. The series is scheduled for a doubleheader on Friday in Shreveport and a doubleheader Saturday at Billy Allgood Field beginning at 1 p.m. This is the final non-conference series for the Wildcats this year, and they will finish the regular season next weekend with a three game American Southwest Conference series against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

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Centenary  |  29-6 (15-3)

The Gents come into the series on a five game winning streak after a three game series sweep over Southwestern last weekend. Centenary also has wins on the year over four common opponents on the LC schedule this season. They are 4-0 against Rust College, 3-0 versus East Texas Baptist University, 1-1 against the University of Texas at Tyler and 0-1 against the Cru of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Centenary has an explosive offense at times, averaging 9.5 per game on 11.8 hits per game. They have eight players batting over .300 on the season, and their top two hitters both averaging over .400 on the year. As a team they have a .349 batting average with 24 home runs. Michael Schimpf, the senior outfielder from Shreveport, leads the team with a .409 average. He leads the team with 31 walks this year and is second on the team in runs scored and runs batted in. Catcher Chris Zapata leads the team in most other offensive categories including hits (56), home runs (9), doubles (14), and RBI (58).

On the mound, Centenary uses four pitchers to carry the bulk of their load. They have four players with over 40 innings of work this year and six players with less than 10 innings of action. Their top hurler is Matthew Devillier, who boasts a 10-0 record on the year with a 2.13 earned run average in 71.2 innings of work, a team high. Opponents are batting .260 against him and he has struck out 46 batters and walked 18 in 11 starts. In his last start, last weekend against Southwestern, Devillier threw 6.2 innings, allowing one run on six hits with one strikeout and one walk. Their top strikeout pitcher is Kaleb Kirk who has 74 total Ks on the season in 67.2 innings with a .225 opponent batting average. Kirk had is second double-digit strikeout game in his last start, throwing a complete game allowing one run on four hits with 11 Ks in a 7-3 win over Southwestern.

Louisiana College  |  18-15 (9-12)

The Wildcats will take a break from ASC play with a four game series against Centenary, but not a break from top tier competition as they play their third ranked team in a row this weekend. After their walk-off win in the series opener over UT Tyler, the Wildcats have lost the last five game in a row to the Patriots and last weekend on the road at the University of Texas at Dallas. In the conference race to the post season, LC will be rooting for Concordia (TX) to win over Hardin-Simmons, as the Cowboys sit 0.5 games behind in the standings for the seventh spot.

The Wildcats have seen their offensive output suffer over the last six games against Tyler and Dallas, scoring an average of just three runs per game over that stretch. Before the last two weeks, the Wildcats were averaging 7.5 runs per game, and that number has dropped to 6.7 coming into this weekend. LC is batting .296 as a team with three players hitting over .300 on the team. Seth Stevens leads the Wildcats with a .400 average and .577 slugging percentage. He tops the Wildcats with 52 hits, 11 doubles, 26 runs scored, and 31 RBI.

Charlie Waddingham has been the Wildcats most effective pitcher throughout the season for LC. In 10 starts he has a 2.17 ERA with a 5-1 record in 66.1 innings of work. He has the Wildcats only two complete games of the season, and is second in strikeouts with 45 this year. Austin Thompson, the Wildcats other regular starter, has thrown 41.2 innings with 52 strikeouts and a 2-3 overall record. Out of the bullpen, Evan Mativi has the most appearances with 12, having allowed three earned runs this year on 13 hits with a .194 opponents batting average.

The Wildcats face off with their third straight top 25 opponent this weekend. The home-and-home series with Centenary starts Friday night with a doubleheader at 4 p.m. in Shreveport and ends with a doubleheader Saturday at Billy Allgood Field beginning at 1 p.m. LC finishes their regular season schedule next weekend with a home series against Mary Hardin-Baylor, before a potential return to the ASC tournament. Stay connected to Louisiana College baseball by following @LC_bsb or @LC_Wildcats on Twitter, and liking LC Athletics on Facebook.