CONWAY, ARKANSAS – The start of the University of the Incarnate Word's three-game baseball series at Southland Conference rival University of Central Arkansas was delayed a day due to the rain.  The Cardinals (15-29, 6-12) and Bears (23-21, 11-13) will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Bear Stadium and finish the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Cardinals will look to starting pitchers Geno Encina (San Antonio/Brandeis HS) and Dylan Boss (Boerne/Boerne HS) to lead the way on Saturday.  Encina is one of the top starters in the conference and enters with a 6-6 record, 2.48 earned run average and is holding opponents to a .244 batting average.  Boss is 2-5 with a 4.78 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 58.1 innings.

UIW is hitting .251 as a team and has a .343 on-base percentage.  Junior left fielder Jesse Hoover (Marion/Marion HS) leads the team with a .314 batting average, 12 doubles, two homers, 33 RBI's and a .432 slugging percentage.  He has reached base in 20 consecutive games.  Ethan McGill (Penn Valley, CA/Nevada Union HS) has raised his batting average to .295 for the year and is hitting over .400 in his last eight games.

The Cardinals and Bears are meeting for the first time ever this weekend.  Doug Votolato leads the offense with a .363 batting average and 20 stolen bases.  Chris Townsend has driven in a team-high 33 runs.  The starting rotation features three men who have between a 3.20 and 3.38 earned run average.  Chris Caudle leads the team with six win on the season.
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