Chris Mangan

The SDSU baseball team will look to snap a four-game losing streak when they open conference play against Centenary on April 3 in the first game of a four-game series in Shreveport, La.

The Jacks have struggled in the early goings of the season, sitting at just 4-14 and looking to turn things around this weekend at the beginning of Summit League play. The Jacks looked like they were building momentum before getting beat up in a three-game sweep at the hands of Washington State.

“The season has been frustrating to this point. One thing we knew going into the season was we were going to play a very difficult non-conference schedule,” head coach Ritchie Price said. “I think that is part of the reason for our record. We played very good on our spring break trip and we were gaining momentum. Then, we went and played a good Washington State team that was just more talented then us, but hopefully we can get back to where we were after the Creighton series and get back on track.”

The Jacks scheduled a four-game set with the University of North Dakota on March 28 to 29, but it was postponed due to the flooding in North Dakota. SDSU has not played since March 22 when they were beaten by Washington State, but Price does not think the long break will affect the Jackrabbits. The Jacks were able to face some live pitching in preparation for the Centenary series.

“We went outside, and the hitters faced our pitchers live, and all the hitters got five at-bats each day so we will be ready for this weekend,” Price said.

The Jacks will open their conference slate against a tough Gents team. Centenary has won seven in a row and is sitting at 16-4, the most wins in the conference, and own wins over Texas A&M, rated No. 1 in the country at the time, and Arkansas. Centenary has a potent offense, scoring 31 runs in their win over Harvard earlier in the season, and they have scored over 15 runs four times this season.

While the Gents are able to put runs on the board, they do not give up many. The Gents have only given up more than five runs in a win once this year.

“Centenary has very good pitching and plays good defense,” Price said. “They beat Texas A&M when they were ranked No. 1, and Arkansas is ranked, as well. We will have to play outstanding defense and capitalize and score runs when we have runners in scoring position.”

The first pitch on April 3 is scheduled for 6 p.m., with a doubleheader scheduled for April 4. The first game starts at 2 p.m., and the series wraps up on April 5 with a single game starting at 12 p.m.