CANYON, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word baseball team heads to West Texas A&M for a four-game Lone Star Conference series this weekend.  The teams will play Friday at 7 p.m., a Saturday doubleheader at 4 p.m. and a final game on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Cardinals (25-16, 11-9) are currently one game ahead of the Buffalos (24-16, 10-10) in the conference standings after going 4-0 last weekend against Eastern New Mexico at home.  UIW has struggled on the road with a 3-11 overall record, but will try to change that against the Buffs.

The Cardinals are hitting .316 as a team and boast a .427 on-base percentage.  Derrick Walls (San Antonio/Reagan HS) and John Zule (San Antonio/Stevens HS) have been the top two hitters on the team.  Walls is hitting .396 with 53 runs, 10 doubles, 40 walks and 32 stolen bases.  He is ranked highly among the national leaders in runs, walks and stolen bases.  Zule is hitting .391 with 10 doubles, a team high 35 RBI's and a .556 slugging percentage.

The UIW pitching staff features an ace in Alexis Garza (McAllen/McAllen HS) who is 5-0 with a 1.23 earned run average.  Freshman Geno Encina (San Antonio/Brandeis HS) has been used as a starter and reliever and has a 7-5 record with a 3.65 ERA in a team high 56.2 innings.  The team has a 4.15 ERA and 293 strikeouts in 327.2 innings.

The Buffalos are hitting .326 as a team and have a well-balanced lineup with six different players who have driven in at least 20 runs.  Mitch Tybroski leads the team with a .402 batting average.  They also have an excellent pitching staff that has a cumulative 3.67 earned run average.  Dylan James sports a 2.61 ERA and is 2-2 with four complete games.
####
pr13285smm