SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word baseball team had two players named to the College Sports Madness Southland Preseason team this weekend.
Junior starting pitcher Geno Encina (San Antonio/Brandeis HS) and senior outfielder Jesse Hoover (Marion/Marion HS) were each named to the first team.  Northwestern State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi were the only other teams with multiple players on the first team.

Encina was a work horse for the Cardinals last year when he went 7-7 with a 2.64 earned run average.  He started 14 games on the mound and had three complete games, including one shutout.  Known for his pin point control, he had better than a 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 95.1 innings of work.  He heads into the season with 14 career victories for UIW.

Hoover transferred to the Cardinals prior to last season from the University of Houston and provided a big bat for UIW in their first year as a member of NCAA Division I.  He hit .309 with a team high 16 doubles, two homers and 36 runs batted in.  He had a .380 on-base percentage and a .435 slugging percentage.  In addition, he had a 17-game hitting streak during the season.

The Cardinals open up the 2015 campaign on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at home against Northeastern University.
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