With the end of the season looming for the loser, University of the Incarnate Word put together a 7-2 victory over No. 1 seeded St. Mary's University in the Heartland Conference Baseball Tournament at Disch-Falk Field in Austin, TX.
UIW (37-16, No. 2 seed) and STMU (39-17) had both lost their open-round contests on Friday and started Saturday's action in a do-or-die matchup in the loser's bracket. The Cardinals had only won 2-of-7 meetings in the regular season against the Rattlers.
Memo Cienfuegos pitched 7 innings, striking out eight batters and allowing just four hits to improve his record to 9-4 and keep Incarnate Word alive in the tournament.
St. Mary's allowed three errors and couldn't get runners home after taking a 1-0 lead in the first and knotting the game at 2-2 in the third. Incarnate Word, meanwhile, had great games from outfielders Tyler Hicks and Steven Vidaurri – Hicks hitting 3-for-4 with an RBI and Vidaurri connecting on 4-of-5 with 3 RBIs.
The victory puts UIW in a 7 p.m. matchup against the loser of Texas-Permian Basin and St. Edward's University tonight. UTPB and SEU began play at 3 p.m. and the loser will have a short turn-around before facing the Cardinals.
As before, the loser of the Cardinals' next game will have their season end.
