SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word baseball team threw 18 scoreless innings in a non-conference doubleheader against Prairie View A&M on Sunday. UIW won 2-0 and 11-0 at Sullivan Field.
The first game featured junior
Geno Encina's (San Antonio/Brandeis HS) first start of the season after battling some injuries. The pre-season all-conference first team selection showed why he is the ace of the staff. He hurled six scoreless innings giving up only three hits, walking two and striking out five on 71 pitches to earn the win. Head coach Danny Heap said he was on an 80-pitch limit.
"It felt good to be back," Encina said. "My arm felt strong and now I just need to keep improving and helping the team as much as I can."
John Shull (San Antonio/Churchill HS),
Chris Jones (Hallettsville/Hallettsville HS) and
Trevor Hardee (Alvord/Alvord HS) combined to throw the remaining three innings. They allowed only one hit and no runs to preserve the shutout. Hardee earned his second save of the season with 1.1 innings of no hit ball, walking one and striking out one.
The two runs came on sacrifice flies in the second and the sixth innings. Both
Christian Divelbiss (Yuba City, CA/Yuba City HS) and
Ethan McGill (Penn Valley, CA/Nevada Union HS)) drove in a run on deep fly balls to center field. The two runs proved to be enough as the Cardinals took game one.
Despite taking the loss, Alberto Aveytia threw a complete game scattering six hits and giving up only one earned run. He walked one and struck out four.
The Cardinals bats woke up in the second game. After only scoring two runs on six hits in game one, they UIW offense exploded for 11 runs on 12 hits.
Matt Morris (Scottsdale, AZ/Saguaro HS) led the way with a 3-for-4 game that included two doubles, three RBI and three runs scored. Overall, Morris was 4-for-8 at the plate in the doubleheader.
McGill added three RBI in the second game, scored a run and hit a double in the first inning to open the scoring.
Colton Besett (Cedar Park/Vista Ridge HS) hit his fourth home run of the season in the third inning to extend the lead to 6-0. He also scored two runs and walked twice.
Garret Cooper (Round Rock/McNeil HS) collected his fourth win of the season with five solid innings of work. He allowed only three hits, no runs, walked six and struck out five. He struggled with his command throughout the game, but found a way to work out of jams to preserve the shutout. In the third inning he had the bases loaded and got Kevin Macias to swing at strike three. Later in the fifth inning, he found himself in trouble with runners on second and third with one out. He retired the side with a strike out and a weak fly ball to right field.
For the Panthers, Jordan Stewart was tabbed with the loss, giving up seven runs on eight hits in three innings.
Brandon Anderson (Cheyenne, WY/Cheyenne Central HS),
Jacob Malatek (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS),
Tyler Miller (Conroe/Oak Ridge HS) and
Adam Hunter (Yoakum/Yoakum HS) all got some work in and did not allow a run in four innings combined. Among the four of them they only allowed three hits.
The UIW pitching staff finished the day without allowing a run and held the Panthers to 10 hits. The offense finished with 13 runs scored and 18 hits while the defense committed two errors.
The Panthers committed four errors in both games and Connor Wrye was the only hitter to collect multiple hits in a game with a 2-for-4 performance in game two.
The teams were originally scheduled to play a third game this weekend, but they ultimately decided to push the final game to May 6 at 6:30 p.m. at Sullivan Field.?
####
pr15211smm
