Needing to finish the 2010 regular season strong against visiting St. Edward's University, the Incarnate Word baseball team fought hard for two wins on Saturday at Sullivan Field – getting clutch hitting and pitching when it counted and ending the season in second place.
In the first game of the doubleheader, Incarnate Word jumped out to a 5-0 lead before SEU closed the gap to 5-4 with a pair of two-run innings.
Needing to add some insurance runs in the top of the sixth, UIW shortstop Matt Flores hit a single for his second hit of the game to get things started for the Cardinals. After the Hilltoppers made a pitching change, left fielder Steven Vidaurri blasted a home run to give Incarnate Word the 7-4 lead.
Vidaurri finished game one 4-for-4 with 4 RBI and three runs scored.
With a three run lead to work with, senior closer Alfredo Caballero got two fly-outs and a strikeout with runners in scoring position to earn his sixth save of the season. Ethan Lutz pitched five complete innings with three strikeouts for his fifth win of the season.
Flores went 2-for-4 with three runs scored while Jackson Woodruff connected on 2-of-4 with an RBI.
In game two, the Cardinals found themselves down 7-2 going into the bottom of the fourth inning after St. Edward's cranked out two 3-run half-innings, including a 3-run homer by Chandler Mosser in the top of the fourth.
UIW responded by scoring five runs on five hits and benefitted from two Hilltopper errors to tie the game at 7-7.
With an out on the board, Daniel Qualls drew a walk and then advanced to second when John Zule reached first base on an error by the SEU shortstop. Drew Hamilton then advanced Qualls to third with a single that gave the outfielder a hard time and Qualls sped into home on the error. Zule and Hamilton advanced to third and second, respectively, after Tyler Hicks hit a single and with teammates in scoring position, Flores cracked a single to right-center, scoring both Zule and Hamilton, while Hicks moved to second base. Flores and Hicks advanced a base each following a Vidaurri single and then the two Cardinals on third and second scored when Matt Roohan hit a single to right-center.
With the game knotted up, Justin Kanas came in to relieve starter Elroy Urbina and pitched a scoreless fifth. The go-ahead run for Incarnate Word came off the bat of Flores, who hit a single to center with two out on the board to score Hamilton and take an 8-7 lead.
Caballero came out to relieve Kanas in the sixth inning and shut down SEU – including a two-strikeout seventh inning where St. Edward's last batter went down swinging – to get his seventh save (his second of the day). Kanas was credited with the win (2-1).
Flores finished the second game 3-for-3 with 3 RBI and two runs scored. Hamilton connected on 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Vidaurri was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
The two wins, along with victories by first-place St. Mary's University, secured second place in the Heartland Conference for Incarnate Word going into the conference baseball tournament next week in Austin.
UIW (36-15 overall, 34-13 conference) will face third-place Texas-Permian Basin (36-19, 33-16) on Friday at 6:30 p.m. STMU (39-15, 35-13) will take on St. Edward's (33-17, 28-15) at 1 p.m.
